Things Happen For A Reason
by DeathEater934
Summary: Will spills his morning coffee all over a stranger while in a rush to get to The stranger ignites something inside of him that he's never felt Will Horton is an ordinary straight guy; at least that's what everyone around him SEE FULL SUMMARY
1. Chapter 1

FULL SUMMARY: When Will spills his morning coffee all over a stranger while in a rush to get to class, something happens that he never expected. The stranger ignites something inside of him that he's never felt before. But that wasn't possible, was it? You see, Will Horton is an ordinary straight guy; at least that's what everyone around him thinks. Will this coffee accident make him change his mind on his entire outlook of life? And what will happen when this stranger is keeping secrets from him? Will a relationship be able to form, or will they both crumble from life's hardships?

_Author's Note: This is my first WilSon chaptered story. I didn't want to post until I was basically done writing since I've tended to get off track with writing in the past when school comes back around and gets in the way. But...I wanted to share at least the first chapter of this story with you readers! It will be somewhat slow updating, maybe once a week or something, but hang in there. Thanks for stopping by to take a look at this new story! ENJOY._

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**Things Happen for a Reason**

**Chapter 1**

It was just an ordinary day in Salem, at least from Will Horton's perspective. Except for the fact that he was currently late for his first class of the morning. He was usually pretty easy to get out of bed, but this morning had just been hell. He rushed to get ready, throwing on the first thing he found in his closet: an old, navy blue sweatshirt and thrice-worn jeans from last week that he hadn't gotten around to washing yet. At least they didn't smell too bad, so people wouldn't notice. He was putting on his watch when he noticed just how late he was. Grabbing his keys, wallet, and iPhone, he stumbled out the door, barely locking it before running down to his car. He didn't live that far from the center of campus, but always felt the need to drive rather than walk there. Especially since he hadn't even had his coffee yet. There was no way he was going to get through the day without it. He needed that jolt from the caffeine, and he needed it now. Parking his car in front of his grandmother's pub, he walked quickly inside, smiling at his grandma Caroline before she handed him a steaming traveler's cup of black coffee. Just the way he liked it. He kissed his grandmother on the cheek, thanked her hastily, and retreated toward the entrance once again. He vowed that he would make it on time to class, even though he only had 5 minutes, and his walk would take him at least 10.

Checking his phone while walking never worked out the way he wanted it to, yet he did it anyways. As he wasn't looking where he was going, he didn't notice the man opening the pub door and walking across the threshold just as he was about to reach to open the door. The next thing Will knew, his coffee cup was lying on the floor, coffee had splattered across both his jeans and sweatshirt and he cursed under his breath. He looked up suddenly, realizing that the reason for his caffeine withdrawal now, was the person he just ran into. He looked up to see a man holding his t-shirt slightly away from his body, small hissing sounds coming from his pink lips. Will was mortified at what he caused, yet was strangely stunned at the effect this stranger was having on him. He snapped out of his thoughts as his grandmother came over with towels.

"Thank you." The stranger was being very polite after what just happened to him. His clothes were ruined, and his skin was possibly burnt underneath his soaking shirt from the scalding coffee that just drenched him.

"I am so sorry. I'm such an idiot. I'm always checking my phone and not looking where I'm going." Will was hasty in his apology, checking his watch once again, knowing he was definitely going to be late now no matter what. The stranger looked into his eyes suddenly, smiling at him slightly.

"It's okay. It's no problem, dude. It happens more than it should, actually." The stranger laughed, and Will's heart constricted at the sound. The voice in the back of Will's mind told him to leave; to walk out of the pub right now and never look back. Will was confused; his body was telling him one thing, and his subconscious was telling him another. Which was he supposed to listen to? Probably his subconscious, seeing as he was late for class, and college was important to him; very important. Yet, for some reason he couldn't will himself to leave, his feet were stuck.

"Can I do something to… um, help?" The stranger looked up at him and chuckled.

"Can I borrow your shirt?" Will's eyes widened at the blunt question. The stranger burst out laughing. "I'm joking, dude. I'll just wait until I go back to my apartment to shower and change. Which I should probably go do now, since I'm all sticky and such." Will's mouth went dry at the stranger's last words. He didn't know what was going on, but this man was making Will feel…different: a _good different_.

"Oh. Well, I could buy you coffee before you… you know, go to clean yourself up or something." Will was shocked at his generosity. He was never the type to offer up to pay for someone's coffee, especially someone he didn't even know 5 minutes ago.

"Sure, I guess. If you have somewhere to be, it's okay. I can fend for myself." The stranger said, noticing that Will had been checking his watch every few seconds. Before Will knew what he was saying or doing, he turned toward the counter again, and used his arm to point toward it, silently letting the stranger know he was available in an "after you" gesture.

"Okay, you just seem like you have somewhere to be. I mean, you've checked your watch about 20 times in the last 2 minutes." The stranger's laugh was perfect. It made Will want to start laughing too, and he didn't even think anything was funny, not at all.

"No… I have time for coffee. I always have time for coffee." With that said, both males walked toward the counter, the stranger's shirt starting to dry and stick less to his skin. This made Will realize that he had been staring before. He had stared blatantly at this man's shirt covered chest, soaked with his favorite drink. Will wasn't sure what the hell was going on, but he knew something was different. This man was different.

Will paid for their drinks before he led the stranger over to a small booth in the corner, slowly sipping at his coffee once again, needing the extra caffeine boost just to get through this small conversation he was about to endure with this stranger. He was all of a sudden extremely nervous, and he never got nervous: never.

"Thanks for the coffee…" The stranger stopped abruptly when he realized he didn't know what the other man's name was. Will stepped up to provide him the needed information.

"Will. It's Will. And you?"

"I'm Sonny. It's nice to meet you, Will." The stranger, now known as Sonny, put his hand over the table, reaching out toward Will, which Will gladly accepted in a firm handshake. The thing was, Will felt a tingle and sparks fly through his body and mind during those few short seconds of shaking hands. That had never happened to him, not even with Gabi. He shook the thoughts out of his mind, and took a large gulp of his coffee. "But you didn't need to do that; pay for my coffee, I mean. I don't mind being run into, especially not by a hottie like yourself," Sonny flirted.

"Um, it's really no problem. I ruined your shirt, and probably gave you heart attack; hot coffee can really burn the skin." Will was rambling a bit, not as bad as it could be, but still. This man made him nervous, very nervous.

"Do you know that from experience?" Sonny smirked at Will.

"Well, no…I guess not, but I just assume." Will was embarrassed now, trying his hardest not to blush. He didn't blush in front of people often, and he sure as hell didn't want this hot guy to see how embarrassed and nervous he was.

"Well, your assumptions would be correct. At least I was wearing clothes, otherwise it really would've left a mark." Sonny was still smirking, and Will swallowed nervously. Suddenly images of this hot man before him were flashing through his head; naked images that probably didn't do the man justice, but naked images none-the-less. Will couldn't help the blush that powdered his cheeks lightly, barely noticeable to anyone who wasn't close by, but Sonny's smirk let Will know that he noticed.

"So, are you new in town or something?" Will asked suddenly, trying to change the subject. He was also curious, just wanting to know more about this man.

"No. Actually, I used to live here. Well, only for a few years when I was younger, but I just moved back. I'm going to be staying for a while, spending time with my parents and all that."

"That's cool." Sonny smiled at Will's words, drinking his coffee languidly. It was a few more minutes of small talk, and then a refill for Will was required. He stood up to go back to the counter, asking if Sonny needed anything before leaving. When he was gone, he didn't notice Sonny watching him. Watching the way he moved, the way he talked to the girl behind the counter. The man that just ruined his outfit mesmerized Sonny. Not that he really cared about his clothes, but he did just buy this shirt. Now he would have to throw it away, which was a waste of the $20 he spent on it. When he realized Will was sitting across from him once again, he erased the thoughts from his mind and got back into the previous conversation they were having.

It was a few more minutes before Will noticed his grandma Caroline walking over toward their table. He gulped, a little nervous about what exactly she would say in Sonny's presence.

"Will, honey, don't you have class today? Normally you rush in here to grab your coffee and then are off for the day?" Caroline questioned him sweetly. Will glanced from Caroline to Sonny, blushing slightly again before looking back at his grandmother.

"Um, yea grandma. I just decided to skip my first class. You know, sometimes I just need a break."

"All right dear, I was just curious. I'll see you later, sweetie." Caroline hugged Will briefly and Will kissed her on the cheek before she turned to go back to the counter. When Will dared look back to Sonny, the man was standing as if he was getting ready to leave.

"Hey, where are you going?" Will internally cringed after the words fell from his mouth, seeming as though the words made him seem desperate for the man to stay longer.

"Well, Will, it seems as though I'm keeping you from your studies, and I'd hate to ruin your education." Sonny smiled at Will, before shaking hands with him again. Will stood up and walked toward the door with the other man. They walked outside before they stopped. They turned toward each other, willing the other to speak first. They both started talking at the same time after a minute of silent staring. They laughed at their antics, Will noticing that Sonny's eyes crinkled a little while he laughed, how had he not noticed that before?

"Okay, well, I guess I better get to class." Will said, not really wanting to leave.

"Yea, you should." Sonny teased the man he just met.

"I'm sorry again about your shirt." Will glances down at Sonny's now stained shirt, gaze drifting further down to his pants, blushing and looking up as quickly as he looked down. He noticed a small, almost non-existent smirk on Sonny's face.

"Man, I told you it's no big deal. I do own more than one shirt, you know."

"Right. All right, well, see you around, I guess?" Will smiled before turning to start his walk to class. Will shivered internally when he felt Sonny's hand grab at his arm. He smiled to himself before turning around.

"Yea?"

"Can I get your number?" Will was kind of flabbergasted at the blunt question, feeling like a girl getting asked by a hot guy for her number. But he wasn't a girl, and this… hot guy was just that: hot. Will was silent, but broke out of his thoughts when he noticed Sonny's phone in front of him. He smiled shyly. Grabbing the phone, Will typed in his name and number before handing it back to Sonny.

"Smile." Sonny snapped a quick picture to set with his number before putting the phone away. "It was nice to meet you, Will. Really nice." Will's eyes opened wider when he noticed Sonny check out his body, glancing up and down before settling his eyes back on Will's. Will tried to smile, but just swallowed nervously.

"Um, yea. You too. I gotta go. See ya." Will turned around and started jogging across the square, needing to get away from the man he just met an hour ago. His heart was beating rapidly, his palms were sweating, and his arm was tingling from where Sonny had grabbed onto him to keep him from leaving. What was happening to him right now? He never got like this, not over some stranger. He never had felt this way about Gabi, but maybe that was why it never worked out between them, or that's what he liked people to think. The problem was, everyone thought he was straight. Don't get him wrong; he tried to tell his family about his feelings, especially his grandma Marlena. He couldn't get the words out whenever he had sat down to talk with her. She was the only one he was fully comfortable enough with to share this big piece of his life. He wanted to be himself, just be out in the open for everyone to see. But he was scared; scared that people would look at him differently, that people wouldn't understand what he was feeling. He was open with himself right now, he was secure in who he was, just not secure with how others would feel about it. He hadn't felt attracted to girls for months now. Well, it had been longer than that obviously, but he pushed the feelings down for many years, not wanting to believe the feelings coursing through him. He had checked out guys before; had felt his pants grow tight looking at other guys, but had never done anything about it. He didn't know if it was just a phase or something, but in all honesty he always knew that it wasn't just a phase; it was just who he was. This would always be who he was.

Now though, something made Will feel a little more confident to share this information with the people closest to him. Someone made him feel the need to be more open with others and with himself; to share that he was in fact attracted to men. Sonny. He was attracted to Sonny, and Sonny was the man that made him want to change; made him want to be open with his family.

He was going to tell his family, at least his grandma Marlena. He needed to tell her; and he needed to tell her now. Changing directions from his class on campus, he ran back to his car, starting the engine and driving toward Marlena's office. He couldn't believe he was skipping his classes; that was something he never did. He always went to class, but Sonny made him so nervous and excited all at the same time. He didn't care that he was missing class; he just needed to be honest with the one person in his life that was always there for him.

Grandma Marlena, please don't hate me for being gay.

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

_FULL SUMMARY: When Will spills his morning coffee all over a stranger while in a rush to get to class, something happens that he never expected. The stranger ignites something inside of him that he's never felt before. But that wasn't possible, was it? You see, Will Horton is an ordinary straight guy; at least that's what everyone around him thinks. Will this coffee accident make him change his mind on his entire outlook of life? And what will happen when this stranger is keeping secrets from him? Will a relationship be able to form, or will they both crumble from life's hardships?_

_Author's Note: Thought I'd post the second chapter for everyone to read! Enjoy. :]_

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**Chapter 2**

Will's car was parked in the lot at Marlena's office, but he was frozen in fear. He didn't want the fact that he was gay to change his relationship with his grandma, or with any person he knew. He was afraid that people would look at him differently though. Sonny wouldn't look at him differently: Sonny. Will smiled to himself at the thoughts of the new man that he met this morning. He couldn't stop thinking about him and the unfortunate way they met; it wasn't as unfortunate as he once thought, not now that they had talked. He just felt an urge to spend more time with the man, to get to know him more.

He had this strange sense of urgency in his gut. Like if he didn't get out of this car right now, and walk into his grandmother's office to confess his sexuality, then he never would. He didn't want that. Even though he knew he wasn't attracted to girls for a while now, he has never met a guy that has gotten him going, not like meeting Sonny had. He was shy and nervous around Sonny, more so than he ever was in his life, yet something about the man just brought it out of him. Maybe it was the fact that Sonny was open with his thoughts, at least from what he could tell. Sonny was witty, and flirty, and didn't care what others thought of him. Knowing Sonny for a short hour or two, he was still able to see just how open the man was. He wanted to be like that. He _would_ be like that. Right here, right now, Will was going to be open and willing to take a chance. If he could just get out of his car…

A few more deep breaths, a small pep talk, and chugging the rest of his coffee helped him get the courage up to step out of his car and walk into the office building before him. It was now or never.

Will said 'hello' to Marlena's secretary, who nodded at him smiling, telling him he was free to enter Marlena's office. Will wasn't surprised his grandmother wasn't busy right now, seeing as it was pretty early for patients to be here. He came to see his grandma plenty of times, so he knew her regular patients' scheduled appointments pretty well.

Opening the door to the office, he stuck his head around the door to smile at his grandmother. She looked up when she heard the door creak open, smiling brightly when she saw who it was. She got up quickly and walked toward Will, who had since fully come into the room and closed the door behind him.

"Will. What a lovely surprise!"

"Hi grandma." Will kissed her on the cheek and accepted her tight hug gratefully.

"I will let that slip just this once, young man, seeing as we are in my office and no one else is around." Will laughed at her words, apologizing briefly for using the term of endearment he wishes he could call her all the time.

"To what do I owe this visit?" Marlena led them to the black leather couch in her office where they both sat down side by side. Will brought a leg up toward his body, turning toward Marlena, taking deep breaths.

"Is everything okay, Will? You aren't hurt or anything are you?" Marlena took a minute to gaze at Will's face and arms, making sure there weren't any bruises she didn't notice before.

"No, grandma, I'm fine. Well, mostly. I just…"

"Does this have something to do with any of the letters that you sent me while I was away?" Will looked into her eyes, trying not to show the panic in his own eyes. He was repeating the mantra in his head, over and over, that it was now or never. He could do this. He was comfortable with who he was, at least he thought he was.

"Yeah. I've been having feelings…weird feelings, for a long time, and I've come to terms with it, but I'm scared…scared that nobody else will be able to understand. And I just…" Will's eyes started to glass over, but he told himself that he wouldn't cry. Will was stronger than that; even though he really wasn't. Will cried more than he liked to admit, and it normally only had to do with his feelings, more so toward his mom than anything, but over the past few months his feelings for other men brought the tears to the surface.

"Will. Honey, you have no need to be scared. I love you, and your family and friends love you. Anything that you tell us, we will accept and still love you for who you are." Will's tears started to fall down his face, knowing how much his grandmother cared for him, wanting the rest of his family and friends to be as caring and supportive as she was.

"I'm not so sure about that, grandma. I know that you love me. I love you, too. I'm still terrified, but today I met the most amazing…person and they've opened my eyes to the possibilities in life. I talked to him for only an hour or so, but it was just natural and I was so nervous at how hot he was, but everything just felt so…right." Will's eyes widened, realizing the words he just uttered. He looked to his grandmother, hoping she wasn't as disgusted as he thought she might be. Her resonating smile was all that Will saw.

"It's alright, Will. There is nothing you could tell me that would surprise me. I am a shrink after all. But I knew, honey, I've known for a while, I was just waiting for you to…come to terms on your own time." Will leaned forward to hug his grandma tightly, crying into her shoulder, knowing that she accepted him for who he was.

"Wait, how did you know?" Will pulled back from the hug to question her.

"Honey, I just notice things is all. I noticed that when you were with Gabi, you were not truly happy. It wasn't super obvious, but I could just tell." Will nodded, thanking the heavens that he wasn't too obvious. He felt bad enough as it is with the whole Gabi situation. Will's thoughts were racing, so it was a few minutes of them sitting in silence before Marlena spoke again.

"So, tell me more about this man you've met. What's he like?" A smile instantly lit up Will's face and Marlena touched her hand to Will's cheek. "Oh, honey. You really like him, don't you? Your smile says it all." Will looked at her and nodded, blushing from embarrassment.

"He's…perfect, grandma. I've never met anyone like him. I spilled my coffee all over him this morning, and he was so…gracious about it. Then I actually offered to buy him coffee." Marlena's shocked face showed him how rare that offering is. "I know! I don't know how to describe it. I felt nervous around him, but didn't want to leave when we were done drinking our coffee. I've never felt attracted to someone the way I feel with him. I never had these feelings when I was with Gabi. Meeting Sonny this morning… I just knew that I had to tell you about my feelings. I've had them for so long, but didn't know how anyone would react, I mean, to everyone else I've always been straight; attracted to girls, but that's not really how I've felt. I tried to make it how I felt, but it was all a lie. I felt compelled by Sonny. He was just so…open. He was flirty and obvious about his attraction to me, and I just knew that it was the right time; and it's all because of Sonny." Will felt out of breath after his long speech. He just couldn't stop talking. Will's smile and joy were contagious, Marlena sporting a similar smile and a similar feeling of joy for her grandson.

"Well, Will. It sounds like you've found someone really special."

"I think I have, grandma. I think I have." Will drifted off for a minute, thinking about Sonny once again, not understanding how he could be this love struck with one meeting. After a few more minutes, Will decided he should go to his next class, so he said goodbye to his grandma before heading back out to his car. It was only 10:15 and his next class wasn't until 11, so he thought he'd go back to grab some more coffee, maybe eat something at grandma Caroline's pub. While driving toward the pub, his hands became sweaty, and his heart was pounding against his chest. Would Sonny be there? No, why would he be, he was just there an hour ago. Will knew these feelings were new to him, to be so awestruck of a person so close after meeting them for the first time, but he couldn't help the feelings he had. Sonny seemed like the perfect guy; maybe a little forward with his checking me out and all, but still, perfect.

After sitting down at the pub, and not seeing Sonny in the place, he let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. He was somewhat grateful for the silence, for the time alone. Especially after the conversation he had with his grandma Marlena just a few minutes ago. He was happier beyond belief at the moment. He felt free; obviously not everyone knew about him, and it would sooner or later get out to the public, but he was ready. He had to thank Sonny the next time he saw him, for helping him get the courage to be honest with the people he loved.

_To be continued…_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

He had finished eating a small late breakfast and was currently sitting in his 11:00 AM economics class. It was one of his favorite courses, yet his head just wasn't in it today. Something, or someone was still getting in the way. The professor called on him twice during the 2-hour lecture where he stumbled through half-assed answers since he was only partially paying attention. He looked down to try and hide the blush of embarrassment that flooded his cheeks. Will was thankful when the professor said they could leave early. He was starving and desperately needed more coffee if he was going to be able to write his 20-page term paper that was due in a few days. He hadn't planned on putting it off for this long; he had gotten the assignment a couple of weeks ago, but was distracted by other things, other assignments, where he hadn't gotten around to starting the horrid paper. It was for his English literature class, not one of his fondest courses, but the University of course required it, otherwise he would've taken up another economics course that he was more interested in; stupid general education requirements.

He was hoping to grab some lunch in the dining hall that was closest to his dorm building, but got talked into going to lunch with Neil, a friend he met in one of his business classes. He was apparently meeting up with a couple of friends for lunch at a nearby restaurant. Neil forced him to come, telling him that he'd never hung out with him (even though the semester started only a month ago). Neil was very persuasive when he wanted to be, at least that's how Will felt in this moment. As much as Will didn't want to spend time with Neil and 2 complete strangers, it would hopefully help ease the stress he was feeling and in the end help him relax more so he could write his paper later tonight.

As he walked with Neil to the Asian restaurant a few blocks away from the heart of campus, they chatted a little about classes, homework, and the like; not really talking about deep subjects. After Neil held the door open for him, such a gentleman, Neil led him toward the back where two men were sitting very close, one talking into the other's ear, whispering something that made the other man bit his lip. Coming closer to the table Will realized something about the man biting his lip…that is the man he's been thinking about all day.

"Sonny." Will whispered quietly, not realizing he'd said that out loud. Neil looked over at him confused, and Sonny's head glanced up and a smirk appeared on his face when he noticed Will. Will was shuffling nervously from foot to foot, hoping this lunch wasn't going to be awkward. Neil took him by the arm and brought him next to the table, sliding into the booth before dragging Will in next to him.

"Will, this is Brian and Sonny. Guys this is Will, he's in my business class at Salem U." Brian greeted Will with a nod before whispering in Sonny's ear again, making Sonny burst out laughing. Neil looked fed up, but just waved a waitress over so we could order food. Once we all ordered, Neil started asking Will more about personal things; his life, his family, his childhood, etc. but he didn't want to talk a lot about his personal life, so he didn't give him much to work with. He was a little distracted, as the two men across from him and Neil seemed to be a little too close for a public place. Neil seemed like he was trying to ignore them, but Will was having a hard time doing that; especially since Sonny was the guy he was now aching over. Neil noticed Will glancing at Sonny, and decided to ask him about it.

"Have you and Sonny met before?"

"Um, yeah. Just this morning actually; I spilled coffee all over him at the Horton Town Square pub." Neil nodded, not needing more explanation than that. Even after their food came, the two men across from them seemed to only eat a little, still hanging over one another and whispering to each other; what about, he had no clue.

"Seriously guys! Can you just get your hands off of each other for like 5 minutes? I'm trying to eat here, and so is Will. No need to scar him for the rest of his life." Neil patted Will's shoulder, and Will just blushed slightly, ducking his head and taking a bite of his food to ignore the blush taking over his face.

"Sorry, Princess. Don't want to disrupt your meal." Brian snickered at Neil. Will was confused now, this Brian guy didn't seem friendly at all, not that he minded; he would never see him again after today, but if him and Neil were supposedly friends, he worried about Neil's feelings in the long run. Will was trying his hardest not to think about Sonny, or look at him for that matter. He seemed so nice this morning, and now he wasn't even…oh, Sonny _was_ looking at him. Will hadn't even noticed since he was trying to ignore whatever was going on across the table. Will now felt Sonny's eyes caressing his face, his neck, his shirt-covered chest; Will blushed from the silent attention and tried to get Neil talking about his life to focus on something else. It wasn't really working; if anything he was having a harder time paying attention to Neil talking than to Sonny's attention that no one else seemed to notice. Neil was eating and talking almost simultaneously, and Brian whispered into Sonny's ear every once in a while. Will noticed Brian's arm moving from across the table, wondering what he was doing under the table…Will flushed suddenly. He stood up without another thought; grabbing his wallet to throw some bills on the table before telling Neil he had things he needed to do for class. He didn't look over at Brian or Sonny, not wanting to see anything else that was going on with those two, at least not anymore than he had already surmised. Will headed toward the bathroom, feeling a little light-headed at the brazenness of the two men that were across the table from them for the last 30 minutes. Will splashed cold water on his face, jumping when he looked into the mirror and saw Sonny standing in the doorway of the bathroom. He grabbed paper towels to dry his hands and face off on before he turned to try walking past Sonny. As he passed, Sonny just trailed his fingers lightly down Will's closest arm, only saying a few words to the man.

"I'm sorry, Will." Those words stopped Will dead in his tracks. Now he was beyond confused. What the hell did Sonny have to be sorry for? Other than basically having sex across the table from him while he was trying to eat…Will turned his head to look at Sonny's face. Looking into his eyes he noticed something that he wasn't sure of what it was…fear? Pain? Will couldn't be sure, but he wanted to find out. Just as he was going to ask Sonny what was wrong, Brian came into the bathroom, glaring at Will, or was that aimed at Sonny? Will couldn't tell for sure, but he was nervous to be in that room, so he continued to walk out of the bathroom, waving to Neil before walking back to his dorm.

When he got there, he fell onto his bed. What the fuck just happened? Sonny was eyeing him like a piece of meat, but in the bathroom…he was almost a completely different person. What was the deal with him? Will wasn't sure who Sonny really was, but he was still curious to find out more. Brian, however, was one person that he didn't care to find out more about. He seemed like a jerk, and possibly even a player from what he could tell; the way he was ogling Sonny in public, almost like he was claiming him. Sonny seemed to be enjoying himself though…Maybe Will was just imagining things. Sonny must've said something else to Will in the bathroom and he just misheard him. Will's eyes started to droop, and he realized he never got his dose of afternoon coffee. He decided hastily that a little nap couldn't hurt, so he closed his eyes, dreaming of those brown-eyes filled with pain and sorrow, and Brian, the selfish jerk who wanted to get into everyone's pants.

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He awoke a few hours later, rubbing his eyes roughly, still groggy from his long nap. Shit, he really needed to start that paper. He ran to the nearest Starbuck's to grab a veinte black coffee before heading back to his dorm to gather his stuff. Grabbing his coffee and his backpack he made his way toward the campus library, knowing how desperately he needed to start this paper. Yes, he still had less than a week to write it, but he worried that if he didn't start it tonight then it wouldn't get done.

Grabbing a table in the most secluded part of the library had its advantages; nobody around to distract Will from his paper, yet his thoughts seemed to drift anyways. Neil was such a nice guy; he didn't deserve to have friends that didn't treat him right. Will vowed that he would be Neil's friend, so he could at least have one stand-up guy on his side. The crazy thing was, Will thought Sonny was a stand-up guy…except he wasn't so sure about that anymore. He was so confused, being pulled in many different directions of who Sonny truly was. Was he the sweet, gracious man he met this morning? Or was he a player, like Brian seemed to be, who only wanted sex? Or was he the scared, pained man he met face-to-face in the bathroom? Will wasn't sure who he had met; he met so many different versions today, and he wasn't sure he could take any more versions of the man he so desperately wanted to be a nice guy, and his first real love.

Will hadn't realized that he had been sitting in the library for almost 2 hours, making it midnight. He had slept way too long earlier, must've been too exhausted from the day he had. He looked at his laptop screen and swore.

"Fuck. Seriously?" Will was talking to himself, like he did a lot when he was by himself. It was somewhat of a bad habit, but one that he didn't want to break. Sometimes when he was lonely, talking to himself was the only thing that got him through those tough days and nights, especially coming from a family as screwed up as his. Will started packing his things, realizing that thinking about Sonny was taking over his mind, and he wouldn't be able to get anything else done tonight. Maybe not even until he talked to Sonny again, face-to-face. Will shuddered as he stepped out into the cold, rainy night. It was pitch black, and his dorm was a 5 minute walk from the library; obviously not very far, but still terrifying at midnight. He walked hastily, trying to get home without being mugged, or worse. He shuddered at the thought and kept walking, clutching onto the straps of his backpack, nearing his dorm with each frightful step. Will wasn't even sure why he was so terrified of walking alone at night, but he was. Something about those news stories of college students getting robbed, raped, and injured from strangers, especially late at night when they were by themselves. Will didn't want to be just another news story.

Reaching his dorm finally, he stepped into the lobby, shaking his wet hair slightly before running up the nearest staircase to his third floor room. He unlocked his door and was thankful to be back home. He changed into dry clothes, deciding he'd take a shower in the morning and crawled into bed to sleep. He was just so glad that this day was over, even though he was excited as hell this morning. This morning he thought today was the best day of his life. Tonight, he was pretty sure this turned into the most confusing day of his life.

To be continued…

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_This chapter was the turning point from the story I had first imagined, to the story that this is becoming...Hope you all enjoyed it! :]_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Will woke up late again the next morning, cursing himself for having napped for so long yesterday; it threw off his entire schedule. He didn't have time to shower, pulling on clean clothes and running to the pub for his morning coffee before heading off to class. He didn't have time to think about anything other than running late, coffee, and school. After his first lecture, he ran into Neil in the hall, thinking he must've come out of a different class in the same building.

"Hey Neil. How's it going?"

"Will! Good to see you man. Sorry about lunch yesterday. Brian is a little…well, a lot to take in sometimes. And Sonny was acting rather strange, but yeah. I'm doing great. How're you doing today? Crappy morning, yeah?" Will nodded; it was still raining and Will hated the rain.

"Do you have time for coffee?" Neil nodded enthusiastically and they started walking to the cafeteria in the main building to grab crappy coffee together. It wasn't bad, at least Will didn't think so, but it was cheap and most students preferred the Starbuck's coffee. Will would rather drink $2.00 coffee, rather than spend $5.00, especially if the sizing was the same. He just thought it was ridiculous, but he did indulge now and again. Coffee was coffee to him, and he needed it desperately to make it through each day. They grabbed a table in the cafeteria, sitting down and chatting about their stupid business test that was coming up in a couple of weeks.

"Can we do a study session or something beforehand? I'm worried I don't know what I'm doing." Neil laughed which made Will smile.

"Yeah, sure. It's good for me to go through the material with someone else anyways. Helps it stick in my brain better." Will wanted to ask Neil about Sonny, seeing as earlier he mentioned Sonny acting strange yesterday at lunch. "So, you mentioned that Sonny was acting strange yesterday? How so?" Neil set his coffee down, running a hand over his face.

"Ugh, I don't even know. I think Brian's gotten to him already, which would be a shame. Sonny is a stand-up guy; nice, smart, charming, generous. Everything I could ask for in a boyfriend, but I think Brian has his claws in him already." Neil frowned slightly; maybe Neil wanted Sonny for himself? Will was a little jealous at that thought. "I mean, Sonny and I are just friends, and I don't want to be his boyfriend or anything," It was like Neil could read Will's mind, countering the thoughts that just went through his head. "But I just want someone to love him the way he deserves, you know? Someone like you, Will. You seem like a stand-up guy." Will choked on his coffee at Neil's words. He didn't want Neil to know that he indeed wanted to be Sonny's boyfriend, or at least get closer to him for now. Neil patted him on the back to help his situation, and they both chuckled when Will was back to normal.

"Are you and Brian…close? He was kind of a jerk to you yesterday." Will felt bad for Neil if they were really friends.

"He's not really my friend. And I'm glad that someone else sees his jerky side, too. Sonny introduced us, I'm not sure where they met…I wanna say it was a bar somewhere in town, but that's not important. Brian doesn't like me; he thinks I'm a "bad influence" on Sonny; like that could ever be true!"

"A bad influence? Seriously, Neil? That's ridiculous! I've known you for like a month, and you're the nicest guy I've ever met. You could never be a bad influence. If anything, I'd say Brian is the bad influence on Sonny." Will's voice became kind of distant, and Neil wondered why.

"Will. You said you met Sonny yesterday before we had lunch?"

"Yeah, and I get what you said about acting differently. He was completely different when I met him and had coffee with him earlier." Neil just nodded. Will looked at his watch.

"Shit. Sorry, Neil. I gotta get to my next lecture. I'll see you in business lecture?" Neil smiled and nodded. When Will ran off, Neil just watched him go, wondering what Sonny had been like when Will had first met him. Sonny sure had been acting differently since he met Brian, which was only a few weeks ago. Time sure does fly by. Sometimes he could see the real Sonny come out, but mostly it was like the shell of the old Sonny mixed with the new Sonny, and Neil didn't like it. Neil needed to get to the bottom of this, and maybe he could use Will's help to do so. In the short time Neil had known Will, he knew that Will was a nice guy. He couldn't tell if he was gay or not, but he saw the way Will had been looking at Sonny and Brian yesterday at lunch, and the way Will casually asked about Sonny today. He knew that Will and Sonny would be perfect together; at least the old Sonny would be perfect for Will. Neil wasn't sure if he wanted this new Sonny to become closer to the sweet Will that he had gotten to know. Only time, and a little investigating, would be able to tell what was going on with Neil's best friend, and he was determined to find out what was going on with this Brian character.

Will was done with all but one of his lectures for the day. His business lecture with Neil was next, and he felt like he needed more coffee in order to get through it. He glanced at his watch, not knowing if he really had enough time, but he decided to chance it. He literally ran from the building his economics class was in toward the nearest coffee house, which happened to be this place called "Common Grounds". He had never been there, but it sounded cool enough. All he needed was his coffee and he would be good to go. He ran into the coffee shop, hoping the line wasn't too long, and almost fist pumped when he saw he would be the only person in line. There were people sitting at the tables throughout the shop, but nobody was waiting at the counter. It was Will's lucky day. When he got to the counter, he asked for a large black coffee to the barista that had his back turned away from the counter. When the barista turned around, Will's day turned to a very unlucky one. It was none other than Sonny behind the counter. Crap. Sonny's eyes were vacant and there was no expression on his face; however, Sonny had his head tilted down, so Will was hardly able to see his face at all. Will felt disappointed at the lack of reaction from Sonny at him being here. Will didn't have a lot of time to deliberate on this fact though, as he was on a clock for making it back to his class on time. Neil would save him a seat if he didn't make it on time, but it was embarrassing to walk into any lecture hall late.

Sonny placed the coffee cup on the counter, looking down. Will noticed that Sonny hadn't fully looked up at Will this whole time and he wondered why. Sonny mumbled the price, and Will gave a few extra bills to Sonny, saying keep the change, before turning to leave. At the last second, Will turned back around, startling Sonny, who had been looking at Will's retreating figure. He looked down quickly again, but Will had seen it already. It was too late, no going back now.

"Sonny. What. Is. That?" Sonny's hand instinctively went to his neck, trying to hide the bruise on his skin. Will was closer to Sonny when he asked him again.

"Nothing. It's nothing, Will. You seem like you're in a rush, so I'll talk to you later." Sonny turned away from the counter, but Will caught the hand he still had placed on the counter. Sonny stopped dead in his tracks.

"Sonny, is that…?" Sonny just nodded, knowing exactly what Will was going to say, and he didn't want to hear it out loud. "Shit. I have to go or I'm gonna be late for class. I'm coming back later." Sonny didn't say anything, but Will released his hand as he turned to go back to campus. Thoughts were racing through Will's head, and he wasn't sure how to get rid of them. The image of Sonny's neck, covered in a dark purple bruise in the shape of a hand print would haunt him for the next couple of hours. And more than that, was he supposed to tell Neil? If he did, how was he supposed to do it?

He made it to lecture with only a minute to spare, and of course the professor started talking right as Will walked in. Maybe that was a good thing. Then Neil wouldn't ask him what was wrong, since he would be able to tell clearly from his face that something was indeed wrong. Neil smiled over at Will and the smile fell from his face when he saw Will's pale face, wide eyes, and bitten lower lip. He hadn't known Will for all that long, but he knew that a look like that wasn't ever good. He leaned toward Will to ask him if he was okay. Will, sensing the question coming, closed his eyes tightly and shook his head, silently pleading for Neil to stay silent, at least for right now. They both started taking notes on the lecture. Neil kept glancing over at Will, who was still haunted by the image of Sonny he just saw less than 10 minutes ago. After 30 minutes of the professor lecturing, Will put his head down, knowing he would be able to get the notes from Neil. He just needed time to breathe, time to think, time to figure out what the hell was going on.

Was Sonny being abused? Was it a first time, one-time only event? Or has this been going on for a while now? Will had just seen Sonny yesterday, and everything seemed fine with him, at least physically from as far as he could tell. But that look Sonny had given him in the bathroom, the words he uttered to Will there, it was all so different from the Sonny he had just seen in the main restaurant, and that was strange.

Neil shook Will's arm gently, trying to wake him after lecture was over. Neil noticed Will had put his head down a little while into class, but didn't want to bother him. He knew he would have time to talk to Will about it all later. Now was his chance. Will jerked fully upright, groggily looking around the room, probably wondering where he was. He rubbed his eyes and yawned in an adorable way that would make any guy swoon, and then turned to look at Neil, who was looking at him expectantly.

"What's wrong, Will? You came in here later than usual, and you looked like you'd just seen a ghost."

"I don't know how to tell you this…or _if_ I should even tell you this." Neil was worried now.

"Hey. Man, what's wrong? You can tell me anything." Will liked that Neil was becoming such a confidant for him, or at least would be in the near future. Will felt as though Neil was someone who wouldn't tell any of his secrets, even if Will told him the worst things that happened in his life. That was someone he needed in his life; and he thinks that Sonny really needs him now, too. Maybe now more than ever.

"I went to get coffee before class. I was in a rush, but I went to Common Grounds…"

"Wait, you went to the coffee shop that Sonny's owns?" Will looked confused.

"Sonny owns it? How is that possible? He's so young…"

"Yeah, he opened it a year or so ago. I helped him out with it, but his family was really supportive about it. Anyways, what about your visit to Common Grounds? What happened?" Neil asked cautiously, hoping nothing bad happened.

"I saw Sonny there, he was working. But he wouldn't look at me. He was looking down, and then…I turned to leave, but decided to say something to him, so I turned around to find him watching me leave…"

"Wow. Isn't that a good thing, Will?" Neil winked and lightly punched Will on the arm, even though he knew this probably wasn't the best time for that kind of behavior.

"Neil. This is serious. Sonny had a big bruise on his neck and it…it was in the shape of a hand print. Like somebody tried to choke him, or they were holding him down or something. I don't…What do we do?" Will didn't realize that his eyes were filling with tears, but Neil did. Neil realized that Will really must like Sonny, even though they just met.

"You like him, don't you Will?" Neil asked him, curious to find out his real sexuality.

"Yes." Will blushed, looking down at the desk in front of him. He looked up suddenly though. "This isn't the time for that, Neil. What about Sonny? Do you think…?"

"Brian. That motherfucker." Neil growled out the douche bag's name, hating him even more now than he did just yesterday.

"I'm not positive if it was him, Neil…But I feel like it was. I mean, he was all over Sonny yesterday at the restaurant, and when Sonny followed me into the bathroom, Brian glared at him, or me, I couldn't really tell, when he walked in, too." Neil was seeing red; he was angry that Sonny was being forced to hang out with, and do other things with Brian, things that he didn't want to picture in his head.

"I think we need to go see Sonny. Now." Neil started gathering his things, wanting to go see his best friend. Will put his things away too, grabbing his cold coffee, and tossing it into the trash on the way out the door of the lecture hall. He hardly drank any of it, but he didn't need it right now. Right now, the only thing on his mind was Sonny. Love at first sight really was something, wasn't it?

To be continued…


	5. Chapter 5

****_A/N: Here's the next chapter! Sorry that it is so short...I'll be sure to update Chapter 6 sooner than I updated this one. Without further ado...ENJOY!_

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**Chapter 5**

It was only a short walk to Common Grounds, but to Will it felt like it took years. His heart was racing as they neared the shop, and when they got closer, Will noticed the sign in the door that said 'Sorry, We're Closed.' What was going on? Did Sonny run, knowing that Will would be coming back to talk?

"Neil, I told Sonny I was going to come back later today and talk to him. You don't think he, I don't know, ran because he's scared of me, do you?" Will was worried now; even more than he already was.

"No, Will. I don't think Sonny is scared of _you_. But I do have a feeling that he's scared of someone…" Neil shook his head in anger, trying to clear the hate from his head, but without prevail. Will wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, not realizing how nervous he was before. His forehead was soaked, and he was burning up; he wasn't sure if it was from the walk here, or from the nerves of seeing Sonny's neck again.

"I need to sit down." Will walked to the closest bench, wanting to take a break. He wanted to forget about everything that was going on and just sleep for a long time. Neil came to sit next to him, looking at him curiously.

"You okay, Will? You don't look so good." Neil gently rubbed Will's arm in a comforting manner, and Will was thankful he was here with Neil rather than by himself.

"I don't feel so hot." Will kind of stumbled on his words and took a breath before speaking again. "I mean, that's the problem; I do feel hot. Like feverish, hot. I need to sit down." Neil looked worried now, seeing as Will was already sitting down.

"You are sitting down, man. I think we should get you back to your dorm. I think you need to sleep whatever this is off." Will nodded, not really knowing what Neil was saying, but just wanted to forget whatever feelings were coursing through his body right now. He was hot; he felt like he was surrounded by fire. And the worst thing was, Will was concentrating more on Brian. His head started to spin and he was still thinking about Brian. He had only known Sonny for a day, had met multiple versions of that man, but he still wanted to beat the shit out of Brian; at least he thought he did. His thoughts were getting a little mushy, now; everything seemed to be blurring together, and he couldn't keep anything straight. He only slightly felt Neil grabbing him around the waist and pulling him to his feet. He felt like he was floating, and then he kind of felt like he was lying down, but he couldn't be sure. He felt something cold suddenly touch his head, lightening the fiery heat that had been consuming him. He mumbled something about Sonny and Brian, before dozing off into the blackness.

Neil was terrified, wondering what was going on with Will. He found it strange that Will had seemed somewhat fine, at least physically, one minute and then completely shut down the next. He hoped that Will was going to be okay, and he prayed that he would be. He left a wet washcloth on Will's forehead, hearing him mutter something about killing Brian and finding Sonny, before leaving him to sleep off whatever this random bug was that was in his system. The only problem was, it wasn't just a regular flu bug, but a love bug that had bitten Will hard in the ass and wouldn't let go.

Will felt fuzzy, blinking his eyes rapidly to try clearing his vision. He looked around and noticed he was home, but he didn't remember how he got there. He remembered being with Neil, trying to find Sonny, but then everything just…vanishes. Will felt better now, he reached up to his forehead, feeling a washcloth on his head, and wondering if Neil put it there. He would have to thank Neil later for his help.

He only remembered bits and pieces as he tried to think hard about yesterday. He assumed it had been many hours since it was light out and the birds were chirping, must've been early morning. Damn, he wasted a lot of time sleeping. He remembered being nervous about Sonny; worried that he was scared of him because of the bruise he had seen on Sonny's neck. Shit, he must've had an anxiety or a panic attack of some sort. He wasn't sure, but he sat up suddenly, realizing that he never found Sonny. He stood up slowly, head pounding, but he felt normal other than that. He changed his clothes, grabbing his phone, wallet, and keys and walking to the door. Checking his phone while he opened the door, he almost ran into someone that was standing there.

"Woah, Will! Watch out, man." Will was startled, dropping his phone on the ground before looking up into the eyes of…

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To be continued…


	6. Chapter 6

_As promised, here is the next chapter only a short time after my last one! :) ENJOY._

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**Chapter 6**

_Will was startled, dropping his phone on the ground before looking up into the eyes of…_

Neil.

It was just Neil, but he was still glad to see him.

"Hey Neil. Sorry about that," Will bent down to pick up his phone, smiling at Neil shyly before closing his door. They started walking, to god knows where, but walking nonetheless.

"How are you feeling today? Better than yesterday?" Neil was concerned for Will, knowing that they could be great friends someday soon.

"I'm okay. Better than yesterday…I think. It's hard to remember what happened." Neil chuckled a little bit.

"You were really out of it, dude. I guess it wasn't the flu or anything though since you're better now?"

"I don't think so…I think it was an anxiety attack or a panic attack or something. Kind of a strange version of it, but it's happened to me before, maybe a little less intense though. But it only happens when I get really…" Will paused, blushing now. "...worked up about something." Neil smirked at Will's confession and pink-flushed cheeks. He knew now that Will really felt something for Sonny; whether it be strong friendship, or more, Neil wasn't quite sure, but Neil wanted to find out more.

"Oh, well I'm glad you're feeling better at least."

"Yeah, me too. Thanks for helping me out yesterday. I appreciate having a good friend to help me out," Will said.

"By the way, Will, where are we going?" They both laughed at the question, and Will answered bad hesitantly.

"I was…I was gonna go back to Common Grounds. Maybe see if Sonny was working." Will shrugged, kicking the ground with his foot. Neil smiled at Will's antics, thinking how Sonny would be lucky to have Will in his life.

"Oh, okay. I should actually get going. I have class soon, but it was nice chatting with you. See you tomorrow?" Will nodded quickly.

"Wait. Neil, did you find Sonny yesterday after you took me home and everything?" Neil shook his head sadly.

"No. He wouldn't answer any of my calls, and he wasn't at his apartment when I went there. I have no clue where he is, but Common Grounds is a great place to start. Text me if you find him." Will nodded in affirmation before Neil turned around to walk toward his class. Will turned to go toward Sonny's coffeehouse, suddenly nervous now that he was thinking about the man.

Walking into the coffeehouse, Will glanced behind the counter, but only saw a short blonde girl working. He cursed silently, hoping that Sonny would be here; he really wanted to see him. He sighed, but decided to get coffee anyway since he was here. He paid for his large black coffee and went to scope out a table he could sit at. He grabbed a magazine from the rack near the door, and decided to sit down in one of the big red armchairs closer to the door than the interior of the coffeehouse.

He had been reading his magazine and drinking his coffee casually for about 20 minutes when he spotted movement from where the back of the coffeehouse seemed to be, near the bathroom entrances, out of the corner of his eye. He looked up, suddenly wanting to take part in some "people-watching" and his breath hitched at the sight of just the man he had been looking for; black eye forming on Sonny's face, in addition to a red cheek, and the same purplish bruise on his neck from yesterday. Will stood quickly, knocking something off the table in front of him, making a clatter on the ground. That's when Sonny looked over to where he was now bending down to pick up the fallen item. Will looked up quickly while standing to see Sonny's eyes as wide as saucers. At first he seemed frozen, but when Will started to walk toward him, he turned quickly and nearly ran through the door leading into the back room. Will stopped outside the doorway, knowing that he wasn't really allowed back there. The short blonde girl from behind the counter came up to him a minute later.

"Do you need to talk to Sonny? I can go grab him from the back if you do." She smiled at him politely, with a hint of lust behind her blue eyes. Will hesitated for a second, knowing Sonny wouldn't come out to see him.

"Um, yes. Could you tell him I need to talk to him about a job application?" Will figured Sonny might come out if it had to do with his coffeehouse; it seemed like he cared about this place, and wouldn't want to deny anyone that wanted to work here. The girl nodded and walked into the back. She was gone for a few minutes before coming back…alone.

"Sorry, cutie. He's a little busy right now. He told you to come back tomorrow to speak to our other co-owner Chad if you wanted a job."

"Um, okay. Thanks." The blonde smiled again, trying to silently flirt with him, but Will just turned away from her, trying to figure out how to get Sonny to talk to him. He didn't want to pry, but Sonny was scaring him with his lack of communication and with the injuries he seemed to be sporting; new ones seemed to appear each day he saw him (only being the 3rd day that he's known the man).

Knowing that Will wasn't going to get anywhere, seeing as Sonny really was scared of him, or at least that's how it seemed from the wide-eyed, panicked look he had on his face when he saw Will in the shop just a few minutes ago, he grabbed his coffee, asking for a to-go cup before leaving the coffeehouse. Maybe trying to get to Sonny wasn't the right move for this situation; maybe he needed to try and wait for Sonny to come to him. Will could only hope, that at some point, and soon, Sonny would come to his senses and come to either him or Neil for help.

To be continued...


	7. Chapter 7

_Another shortie, but I hope you like me still anyway! A couple near-future chapters are longer! :) I will update by the weekend! After that I will probably start updating every Wednesday. __ENJOY._

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**Chapter 7**

It had been 9 days. 9 full days since Will had tried to contact Sonny last at Common Grounds. To say Will was going crazy would be an understatement. The first few days had been fine. Will was able to finish the paper that he had been putting off, and was really able to focus on studying for his midterms that were coming up in a couple of weeks. He was happy that he had gotten a head start for the first time in his life. But every night he laid down to sleep, thoughts of Sonny ran through his mind. Was he okay? Had Neil found him, or talked to him yet? He hadn't seen Neil outside of lecture in a few days and last he knew Neil had tried to give Sonny space. Will didn't tell Neil about the bruises Sonny had when he saw him briefly at Common Grounds. Now he was regretting that decision everyday. He knew that Neil deserved to know how his friend had been holding up, but he was scared of what Neil would do. He was surprised he hadn't done anything yet.

He decided to text Neil. He tried to ask him if he had seen Sonny, but Neil wasn't replying to his texts. Now he was just getting pissed. He took a walk, hoping some fresh air would help his anger and his confusion. He wasn't prepared for what he would see on his brief walk to clear his head.

As he was walking through the town square, he saw Neil and Sonny sitting on a bench in the secluded garden of Horton Town Square. He stopped, frozen, unsure of what to do. He was thrilled to see Sonny and also Neil, knowing they were both still alive, but the bruises he saw on Sonny made him want to scream. He had walked closer, realizing he had found them in the middle of a conversation.

"I know that you like him, Sonny. But you have got to stop acting this way. He only wants to help you." Will frowned. He must be talking about Brian. "I know that you're scared, but that's what friends are for; to help you through the scary parts of life. That's what I'm here for. That's what Will wants to be here for." Will's breath became ragged. They were talking about him.

"I'm not trying to act this way to make him miserable…I just…Neil, I don't want him to get hurt, okay? Brian said…" Sonny stopped, looking at his hands. Neil put a hand on his arm and Sonny winced in pain.

"There, too?" Neil asked quietly. Sonny just nodded. "Sonny, I know that you told me that you _can't tell me_ what's going on, but I deserve to know. And so does Will. He's going out of his mind, okay? He cares for you. And you've been nothing but a dick to him."

"I don't want to be, Neil. But Brian…" Will accidentally stepped on a stick, breaking it in half, causing both boys to look up suddenly and he was now a deer caught in the headlights. Sonny's eyes widened, hoping that Will just got there. He stood up, but Will ran over to him in a flash, grabbing onto his arm. Sonny winced, and Will looked worried. He had grabbed the other arm; the one that Neil hadn't just grabbed…I guess both were injured in some way.

"Sonny, please don't walk away. Not again. I haven't seen you since that day you ran from me in Common Grounds and I've…I've been going out of my mind, like Neil said. I just want to help you." Will was talking fast, simultaneously trying to slow his rapidly beating heart.

"You can't help me, Will," Sonny whispered for only Will to hear. Sonny turned toward Will suddenly, taking him by surprise. They looked into each other's eyes for what felt like eternity, with Neil just gazing at them from behind, still sitting on the park bench. Sonny moved closer to Will, leaning toward him. Will's licked his lips, not knowing what was going on. Sonny placed a soft kiss on Will's cheek and Will took a shaky breath. The kiss lasted longer than Sonny should have let it, but it was nice to be close to Will once again. Ending the kiss to Will's cheek, Sonny leaned his head closer to Will's ear, whispering softly to the man.

"You need to stay away from me, Will. We can't…we can't be friends." Sonny pulled back to look into Will's eyes one last time. Will had a look of shock and panic on his face, Sonny's eyes started to fill with tears, but he tore his gaze away from the baby blue eyes before him and ran in the opposite direction.

Will was shocked. What the fuck just happened?

To be continued...


	8. Chapter 8

_Here is the next chapter! It is longer than the last few :) ENJOY._

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**Chapter 8**

It could've been minutes, seconds even, but to Will it felt like hours. Hours since Sonny had run away from him, again. He was brought out of his reverie by the soft touch of Neil. Neil softly grabbed Will's arm, leading him over to the bench Sonny had been occupying no less than 5 minutes ago. Will would not cry, not in front of Neil, not over Sonny. He kept telling himself that he would not cry, but the façade was started to crumble, and so was Will. Neil pulled him into a hug, and Will clung to his friend for dear life, imagining it was Sonny's arms he was in.

"Hey. What did he say to you?" Will shook his head, signally that he didn't want to say. Neil sighed, hoping Will would have told him, but he understood if it was personal, or at least difficult to talk or think about right now. It was a few more minutes before Will looked up at Neil.

"Wait. Why the fuck didn't you text me if you had found Sonny and knew that he was okay…well, sort of okay." Will went from upset to fuming in a matter of seconds, pissed that Neil knew of Sonny's whereabouts without having the decency to let him know, too.

"He told me not to, Will. I was just trying to do what he said. You haven't known him as long as I have, okay? You don't know how serious he is about keeping promises and secrets. I can't…God, I want to tell you what's going on, but…like Sonny said, I want to protect you." Neil was upset now, knowing how much Will wanted to know about Sonny's situation.

"Me? You want to protect me?! What about Sonny? Doesn't he need protecting? Do you not see the bruises and the injuries he has? Something is wrong, and he needs help!" Will was now standing, yelling down at Neil, who was staring up at him with wide, tearful eyes.

"I know, Will. I'm trying to help him. I want you to be able to help him too, but he won't let you. He…he likes you Will. And he's sworn to himself that he won't let Brian…" Will became even angrier. "Fuck." Neil whispered into the air.

"Brian _is_ the one that's doing this to Sonny? I knew it. I want to kick that guy's face in." Will went to walk away, but Neil grabbed his wrist, hard.

"Stop. Will, you really don't understand the situation here. You can't go 'kick his face in', all right? You just can't…he's…volatile, I guess. He gets set off easily."

"What do you mean, volatile? Other than the abusive actions, that is."

"I really shouldn't be telling you this, Will." Neil whispered, worried that either Sonny or Brian were around the corner listening to him break his promise to Sonny.

"Please, Neil. Please." Will's blue eyes boring into Neil's had Neil cracking like an egg. "Please," Will whispered almost brokenly.

"Brian is…he's had some mental issues in the past. He's been to jail a few times, and…Now he's set his sights on Sonny. This must be what he does; picks an attractive guy, changes the way that he is, forces him into doing the things Brian wants him to do, forces him to change everything about his life so it's centered around Brian." Will looked nauseated.

"You're letting Brian dig his claws even further into Sonny by not doing anything! I have to stop him."

"Will, seriously man. Don't."

"Don't 'man' me, okay? You aren't as good of a friend as I thought you'd be. I thought you were different." Will turned to walk away, mind-set on finding Brian and killing him; beating him to death with a baseball bat, or a crowbar until his face was no longer recognizable.

"He said that he'd kill you!" Will froze at the words leaving Neil's mouth. His hands were shaking roughly.

"What?" Will could only whisper now since he was so shocked.

"Brian told Sonny…that if Sonny got closer to you, talked to you, hung out with you, anything…That he would kill you. He told Sonny in very great detail what he would do to you, and that didn't settle well with Sonny. He promised Brian that he wouldn't go near you…" Neil whispered just as softly as Will, hoping he would see how difficult this situation was now.

"I…Sonny's being beaten…because of…me?" Will couldn't believe what he was hearing. This couldn't be true…could it?

"No, not completely. I mean, Brian just…likes that power over someone else anyway, but you seeing Sonny hasn't made it any easier on him."

"Oh god. I have to go." Neil tried to stop him, but gave up. "I just need to be alone right now." Will left the park, walking back to his dorm. He was considering asking E.J. for help. E.J. could help, right? He could help get Brian killed? Then Sonny would be fine, and nothing else would go wrong…Will felt sick just thinking about becoming like the Dimera's, but he feared he didn't have much choice.

He knew that he didn't have a good relationship with his mother, but he felt drawn to go talk to her about this situation. It seems like she might be the best person to talk to. He knew she had been through a lot over the years, and maybe she would know how to handle this. The only thing was…she didn't know Will was gay, and he was trying to keep it that way, at least for now.

When he got to his mother's apartment, the kids were thankfully at school, so that just left him and his mother to talk. She was surprised to see him, knowing that he was mad at her the last time they had seen each other; he could barely remember what he was mad at her about, since this new situation with Sonny had been taking over his every thought for the last 2 weeks.

"What's wrong, Will?" Sami could tell that something was bothering her son. Will was fiddling with his hands, not exactly knowing how to start.

"There's kind of something major going on with my new…friend, and I'm not sure how to handle it."

"So you came to me?" Sami felt ecstatic, knowing that her son wanted her help or her opinion on something that he was going through, or that his friend was going through.

"Yeah. I just…I don't know what to do, and I thought you might know how to help me."

"Okay. Well, what's this 'situation' that your friend is in? Is it bad?" Sami asked him, hoping it wasn't as bad as things she's been through in the past. Will nodded.

"He's…he's gay, and he's in an…abusive relationship."

"Oh, honey. He needs support right now, to help him get out. So just, be there for him." Sami tried to advise him. Not knowing much more than that, but knowing how one should kind of go about handling abusive situations.

"That's…I can't really support him. His…boyfriend," Will ground out the word 'boyfriend', not knowing if that was really the term he should be using for Brian; bastard, jerk, or motherfucker, might be better suited for him. "…He made Sonny, that's my friend. Sonny can't see me or…" Will took a deep breath. Sami's eyes widened, wondering what would happen if this Sonny guy saw her son.

"What, Will? You can tell me." Sami encouraged him, knowing from her mother that talking things out always seemed to help.

"If Sonny comes to see me, or if I see him, or anything like that…then…His boyfriend said that he would…kill me." Will's eyes were blurry, but he looked down, hoping the tears would go away, seeing as his mother didn't know about him being gay, or having feelings for his new friend. Sami put her hand on Will's knee comfortingly, yet Will heard her gasp right after the words came out of his mouth.

"Will…Are you sure?" Will nodded, still looking at his hands. "Maybe you should just…not see your friend for a while…?" Sami thought out loud, not knowing what else to say. Will looked up, fear and pain in his eyes, tears falling down his face. Seeing Will like this made Sami wonder.

"Mom, he's been beating Sonny. I can't stand by and watch while Sonny gets hurt, not when…" Will stopped talking, knowing if he kept going, he'd surely give away his secret about his sexuality. Sami had an inkling about what was bothering Will, though. She rubbed his knee gently before whispering to Will.

"Do you…do you have feelings for your friend, Will?" Will looked into his mother's eyes, clearly showing fear. Sami knew now that she was right in her assumption. "It's okay, baby. If you do. I love you, no matter what." Will leaned forward suddenly to hug his mother tightly.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I was scared you'd hate me. I'm so sorry, mom." Sami had a few tears fall from her eyes at the pain in her son's voice. She rubbed his back gently, wanting to try calming him down. They pulled back a while later. Sami grabbed tissues from the coffee table, handing one to Will and using one herself. They both laughed a little at their actions. Will felt more comfortable now; more so than he has in a long time with his mother. Now she knew exactly who he was, and he felt thankful for that newfound honesty.

"So, you like this Sonny guy?" Will nodded shyly. "And he was told to stay away from you or you would…" Sami could hardly say the next words, "…you'd be killed? Is that right?"

"Yes. That's what Sonny's best friend told me. He wasn't supposed to say anything to me, but now I just want to smash Brian's face in and kill him for what he's done to Sonny." Sami looked shocked at her son's reaction.

"Baby, you really like this guy, don't you?" Will nodded, not knowing how else to respond. Sami smiled, seeing that her son was happy with the person he had become, comfortable in his own skin.

"I was…thinking about trying to talk to…E.J." Will whispered out, scared of what his mother's reaction.

"E.J.? Will, you don't really want to kill this Brian person do you?" The fury in Will's eyes said it all, making Sami gasp. "Will, you can't. What if you get caught, and go to jail? That wouldn't help your future boyfriend now would it?" Will blushed at his mother's words, but liking the sound of Sonny being his boyfriend in the future. "Maybe we should talk to E.J. about what's going on…and he might have some insight as to what we should do."

"Okay, mom." Sami nodded and hugged her son again. She told Will that E.J. was out of town, but would be back in a few days. They could meet up at the mansion and discuss things this weekend to come up with a plan of action for whatever they would be doing. Sami didn't want Will to do whatever he was going to do alone; so safety in numbers was better. At least she seemed to have talked him out of killing the guy who's beating up her son's friend, Sonny. But knowing her son, she wasn't sure how long that side tracking was going to last. Hopefully it would last until they were able to meet up with E.J. to tell him what this big situation was.

Will left his mother's apartment an hour after he got there, feeling much better after talking to his mom about the situation he was in. Plus, he was finally out to his mom, and she didn't hate him. Grandma Marlena and his mom still loved him. He felt like everyone could still love him if he started to tell more people about his sexuality. He wanted to be more honest with the people in his life, and telling people about the true him was the perfect way to do that. Little by little; day by day. Taking things just step-by-step was the way to go. Will wanted to believe that E.J. would have a solution his and Sonny's problem, he just wished he didn't have to wait so damn long to meet up with him.

To be continued…


	9. Chapter 9

_Thanks to all my lovely readers and reviewers! Special shout out to 'Lover of gays' for being an awesome reviewer! Thanks for always putting a smile on my face after reading your reviews :) ENJOY this next chapter! xx_

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**Chapter 9**

It was Saturday and Will and his mom would be meeting with E.J. this afternoon to figure out a plan of action for dealing with Sonny…and Brian. Will hadn't seen Neil since that day in the park. Neil had skipped lecture both times this week, even though there was a midterm coming up soon. Neil had texted, saying that he wouldn't be in lecture all week, but he wouldn't reply to Will when he asked him why. Will was seriously upset with his so-called 'friends'. He just hoped that talking to E.J. would help fix this problem so Will could have friends again. He felt like he's been alone these past few weeks, and that didn't help his self-esteem issues. Will stayed in bed until it was time for his meeting. He drove to the Dimera mansion and then waited in the car until his mom's car showed up. He knew she was going to be late, but didn't want to wait inside with E.J., so he stayed in his car so they could walk in together. Sami came over to Will's car, noticing he was still in it, before they went to knock on the door. Once inside the living room, Sami sat on the couch while Will started pacing in front of the fireplace. 10 minutes later E.J. strolls in.

"Took you long enough!" Will yelled at him. Sami's eyes widened, standing up to greet E.J. with a kiss. Will looked away, not wanting to see his mother and E.J. Dimera making out in front of him; not when there was a crisis. "Can you stop making out so we can figure out how to kill the son of a bitch that's beating up my boy-…um, beating up my friend. Please." Will flushed, knowing that he almost gave his 'secret' away to E.J., and he wasn't sure if that would be a good thing or not. E.J. was being nicer to him now that he was with Sami, but things could always change in the blink of an eye.

"William, there's no need for the anger. Come, sit. Tell me. What do you need my help with?" E.J. said. Sami sat down on the couch with E.J., Will taking a seat in the armchair across from them.

"My friend is being abused by his boyfriend. I wanted to help him get away from him, but I can't. If he comes near me, his boyfriend said he would kill me." E.J. ran a hand over his face while Will was bouncing his leg up and down with nervousness.

"Well, William. What do you propose I do?" Will stood up suddenly, pacing again. He was literally becoming crazy thinking about what Brian could do to Sonny if they didn't do something soon. In all honesty, he didn't want Brian killed, he just wanted to him away from Sonny, maybe even put in jail…again, but he wasn't a killer. He didn't want E.J. to have to kill for him either. He had really wanted Brian dead before…but he knew that wouldn't help Sonny at all. It would even make himself feel guilty, and he didn't want that for the rest of his life. He just wanted to be alive, and to hopefully have a chance with Sonny; to at least be his friend, maybe more.

"I don't know. Part of me wants to kill the son of a bitch, but another part of me just wants to see him put in jail for a long time. I'm conflicted here. Mom?" Will looked to his mom. Sami wasn't sure what he wanted from her, but she was able to talk to E.J. easier than he was.

"E.J. is there a way that you could get this guy in jail for what he's done?" Sami asked.

"Samantha, I'm not sure how long this has been going on. I can't just put this man in jail. It takes time for these kinds of things." E.J. replied.

"Well, then how can I do something to get this guy away from Sonny?" E.J. thought for a moment before speaking again.

"You say that this Brian character will kill you if Sonny goes nears you…yet have you gone near him before?"

"Yes, only once or twice. I haven't known my friend for that long, only a couple of weeks. But the next time I saw him, he had bruises and injuries like he had been beaten…because of me. So, I can't let this go on any longer. Help me. Please, E.J." Will begged him. E.J. knew this was not something Will did normally; begged him for help, so he knew it must be important to him. They talked for a while, E.J. asking Will to tell him everything he knew about Brian and his relationship with Sonny. After 30 minutes, E.J. came up with a plan, of sorts.

"Well, William. This is what I think you should do. I think you should go find Sonny." E.J. started, but Will interrupted him.

"What? I can't! Brian will kill me, or worse, kill Sonny."

"Let me deal with this Brian…The name sounds familiar, but I'll talk to someone, get the details on this guy. I'll text you when it's time, but we may not have much time, all right? Especially if he's as volatile as you say. He may not want to chat, especially with me." Will was listening intently, trying to figure out how this was going to play out. "It might take a few days to find out the information I need, but I will call you when our plan will be going down. I would say no later than Wednesday. We will figure out when Sonny is working at his coffeehouse, where you will go, only once I have cornered Brian. Surely he will be close by. If he is being abusive, he will want to keep a tight eye on Sonny, make sure that he keeps his word about staying away from you."

"Then how are you going to get him away from Common Grounds?"

"You let me worry about that, William. Once I distract him, you must get Sonny to come with you. You will need to take him away, just for a little while. Maybe go up to the Horton cabin. Somewhere that Brian won't find you or Sonny." E.J. explained.

"E.J., Sonny's not going to go with me. He's trying to protect me, so what am I supposed to do to get him to leave _with me_?"

"You are a smart man, William. Just tell him what we are doing. I'm sure he would know that you wouldn't lie to him. If you have to…you may need to force him with you. It would be for his own good in the end." Will's face paled at E.J.'s last words.

"Force him? I…I'm gonna be sick." Will ran from the room, running to the nearest bathroom to let go of the nausea that formed in his belly.

Meanwhile, back in the living room, E.J. looked confusedly at Sami.

"Did I say something wrong? I didn't mean to upset him." Sami ran her hand over his cheek. Smiling softly. She knew this wasn't her place, but she thought E.J. would better understand if he knew the truth.

"Will is…He likes Sonny. And you told him to force him to go with him if need be…when his boyfriend already forces him to do things…" E.J.'s face lit up with realization.

"Oh. Samantha, I didn't…I'm trying to help William here."

"I know that. And Will knows that, too. It's just…hard for him to think about Sonny getting hurt like that."

"I didn't realize." Sami nodded, and they turned their heads to the doorway when they heard Will coming back into the room. Will wiped his bloodshot eyes, rubbing roughly at them.

"Sorry" Will whispered as he sat down again. "Where were we?"

"William, I'm sorry for upsetting you." Will looked up suddenly at E.J.'s apology, knowing he didn't make those very often. That made Will feel a little better.

"Thanks, E.J." Sami smiled over at Will while squeezing E.J.'s hand in her own.

"So, once you get Sonny away from Salem for a little while, maybe it'll only be a few days, then I'll call you and let you know how things are going with Brian." Will nodded.

"Okay. Thank you. I should get going now, though." Will stood, hugged his mother, shook E.J.'s hand in thanks and went back to his car. Will thought that he needed help other than just from E.J. Maybe he needed Neil's help to get Sonny away from the coffeehouse. Would Neil actually help him, especially after he broke his promise to Sonny and told Will everything? Will hoped that he would. He couldn't do this without his friend. And Neil was the only friend he had right now.

To be continued…


	10. Chapter 10

_Here it is guys...The "plan" is finally set in motion...ENJOY. xx_

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**Chapter 10**

Once E.J. had contacted him saying when the plan was going to go down, Will called Neil to see if he would help.

"Will. I'm surprised to hear from you." Neil said through the phone. Will could tell he was as surprised as he said.

"Yeah, well…I need your help." Will said nervously, not knowing how 'helpful' Neil would want to be.

"Will…This sounds like you're…"

"I know, I know. It's what you think… but I've talked to… a friend of mine and we've figured out a plan."

"A plan? That's doesn't sound good." Neil said warily.

"Don't worry…It'll be good in the end. I promise."

"Okay…why do you need _my_ help, then?" Will started to explain what the plan was, obviously wanting to get this over with. The plan was going down in just a couple days, and he hoped that Neil would be on board.

"You've got to be kidding me! Why would I help you kidnap Sonny?" Neil said exasperated. Will choked on his coffee. Coughing wildly into the phone.

"I'm not…I would never _kidnap _Sonny, Neil. That's why I need your help, okay? This is for his own good. I can't sit around and do nothing…not anymore. I need to help him." Neil sighed; knowing that Will was only trying to do what he thought was best in this bad situation. He gave in.

"What do you need me to do?" Will smiled although Neil couldn't see that through the phone.

"God, Neil. Thank you. Thank you so much. I will repay you somehow. Okay, so I need to take Sonny away for a few days while my friend gets Brian handled…"

"That really doesn't sound good, Will."

"He's not gonna kill him or anything…I wanted that to happen for a while" Will whispered that last part under his breath, but he knew that Neil could still hear him. "But he's digging and he's going to get him put away…for a long time. We won't have to worry about him after this is over." Will went on to explain how Neil needed to go into Common Grounds and ask Sonny for help with something, saying it was an emergency or something. The rest of the plan was laid out from there. Will just prayed that everything worked out the way he hoped…which was Sonny being saved from the asshole that was abusing him.

* * *

Two days later…

It was the day of the plan…Will woke up early, way earlier than usual. He was nervous. He didn't know how things were going to turn out. He just wanted E.J. to deal with Brian, so Sonny could go back to his normal life. He spend his time packing a bag for himself, getting things together that Sonny would be able to wear as well. He got everything ready before leaving to drive up to Horton cabin. He was going to be up there for hours by himself, but he would need that time to calm down.

It was almost 9 pm, and Sonny should still be at Common Grounds. Closing wasn't until 10, but Neil was going to get him out of there early. Neil was going to run in there with an emergency of sorts, begging Sonny for help. Will would be waiting at Horton cabin, which is where Neil would be driving Sonny to. Once they got inside, Neil would stay for a while, but Will would keep Sonny there for a few days. Will just hoped that Sonny wouldn't get too freaked out and try to make a break for it. At least not before Will had a chance to explain everything that was going on. Of course Will was worrying now that Sonny would feel as though he was kidnapping him, just like Neil said. He tried to push those thoughts from his mind. Neil was supposed to text him before he went to get Sonny, not sure if he would be able to let Will know if Sonny and him were on their way or not. Obviously, Neil needed to be careful with Sonny, but Will knew how much Sonny trusted Neil. Will knew Sonny was a good enough guy that he would help Neil out in an emergency, even if Brian had told him not to involve himself with anyone but him.

Will just kept thinking about how much of a jerk this Brian guy was. He obviously still wasn't aware of the entire story, but he knew that main part…that Brian was abusing Sonny, making him keep to himself, and making sure he doesn't go anywhere near Will. Will didn't know how anyone could beat on Sonny. Sonny; the most incredible man that Will had ever met. He had only talked to Sonny a couple of times; some of them were more of Sonny telling Will to stay away from him, but still. Will felt this strange, strong connection with Sonny that he hadn't ever felt before, and he had a feeling that he wouldn't feel it again, at least not anytime soon.

It was a while, Will zoning out thinking about Sonny, before he heard a car outside on the gravel road leading up to the cabin. This was it. Sonny and Neil were here. It was now or never. Will stood up, wiping his sweaty hands on the front of his pants, and walked to the bathroom. He closed the door and walked over to the mirror. Standing in front of it and looking at his reflection. His complexion was paler than usual, his eyes were red from his lack of sleep, and his bottom lip was red and slightly swollen from his constant nervous biting. Will heard the front door open and he ran his hand through his hair. He stayed silent, worried that Sonny would turn around and leave the instant that he was seen.

It couldn't have been more than 5 minutes, but it had felt like much longer to Will. He heard movement in the other room and was wondering what Neil and Sonny were doing out there. He knew that he needed to just go out there. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he checked it quickly. It was from Neil, telling him that he should make himself known now. Will sighed, turned the faucet on low so it was hard to hear and splashed cold water on his face. It was a few more seconds of deep breaths before he walked to the bathroom door and put his hand on the doorknob. With another heaving breath he turned the knob, pushing the door open and walking out into the main room of the cabin. He first noticed Neil standing next to the fireplace, then Sonny sitting on the couch facing away from the bathroom door. Another step into the room and Neil turned away from the fireplace to look at him, which made Sonny turn around on the couch to face him. The look of sheer panic on Sonny's face made Will want to turn around and run from the room. Before he knew what he was doing, Neil was yelling out to him, stopping him from shutting the bathroom door that he had been close to closing; to lock himself in the room once again.

"Will, get back here. RIGHT NOW." Will's hands fisting by his sides, he brought them up to his eyes a pushed them into his eye sockets roughly. He didn't realize he had been doing it for a long time until a soft pair of hands covered his fists, gently pulling them away from his now pained eyes. His eyes were cast down at the floor, just knowing that it was Sonny that had come up to him. But why? That was what Will couldn't come up with.

"Will?" Sonny said to him, trying to get him to look up. When Will did, Sonny's eyes were wide and filled with tears. But Will also noticed the busted lip, the bruised jaw, and the gash above Sonny's right eye. Will's hand automatically flew to Sonny's face, a gasp falling from his lips as he fully took in the injuries he was seeing.

"Oh god," Will gasped out quietly. He faintly heard the front door open and close, but didn't look away from Sonny's gorgeous face covered with injuries that shouldn't be there. He knew that Neil left. I guess Will should be happy; Sonny hadn't run away from him like he pictured, instead he ran right to him. "You're here." Will actually couldn't believe that Sonny was here. He thought that Neil wouldn't be able to get him here, that Sonny would leave the moment he saw Will. But he didn't. He was here.

"I'm here…Neil told me, Will. He told me…" Sonny finished in a whisper, trying to keep the tears from flowing down his cheeks.

"What?" Will was confused. What had Neil told him exactly? Did he tell him that Will was kidnapping him for a few days? No, if he had told Sonny that, surely he wouldn't be here now. Did he tell him that E.J. was going to get Brian locked away? Will really couldn't be sure. "What did he tell you?" Tears flooded from Sonny's eyes, and flowed down his cheeks. "Sonny?" Will choked out his name, not feeling strong enough to know what Neil told him, but needing to know what Sonny knows all the same.

"That you're going to help me. You're helping me. Why would you do that? Why, Will? I'm nobody. I'm worthless. I deserve to be alone for the rest of my life. I deserve everything that Brian did to me. I…" Will pushed his forehead against Sonny's suddenly, wrapping his hands around the back of Sonny's neck, holding him in place so they were looking into each other's eyes. Sonny's eyes widened quickly at how close Will had gotten, the grip around the back of his neck worried him slightly, but he tried to keep his body relaxed so Will wouldn't sense his nerves.

"You have not deserved _anything_ that Brian has done to you. None of it was your fault." Sonny tried to interrupt him, but Will wasn't having it. "You are beautiful. You are sweet. You are funny. You are flirty, and gorgeous, and perfect, Sonny. Just perfect." Sonny looked up at Will with tired eyes, a small smile fighting its way to his lips. Sonny's body relaxed more and more after each sentence that poured from Will's mouth.

"Will, I'm really not. Not perfect. Not at all." Sonny's voice trailed off, and Will jumped in to counter his words.

"But you are. These days that I've known you…that first day we met, I was hooked, Sonny. I felt a connection with you that I had never felt before and I never want to feel again. Not with anyone but you. I want to help you. Brian deserves to be punished for what he's done to you." Will's thumb caresses the gash above Sonny's eye, Sonny's eyes close at the contact, feeling more cared for than he ever has; at least over the past few weeks. "I'm going to make sure that bastard never touches you again; never _hurts you_ again."

"Will…" Sonny drops his head to Will's shoulder, Will shuffles closer to the man in front of him, wrapping his arms around the fragile man and resting his head on top of Sonny's. "Thank you."

To be continued…

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_I know that this probably isn't at all realistic...Yet, this is what my mind came up with...So just go with it. Review, please!_


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

It had been a few hours already since Neil dropped Sonny of at the cabin, and so far things were going well. Much better, at least, than Will pictured things going. Will was putting another log on the fire, hoping to keep Sonny warm as he was shivering on the couch even through is many layers.

"Are you okay? Maybe you should put something else on…or go take a hot shower or something." Will was worried about Sonny and his constant shivering.

"No. Will, I'm f-fine. Promise. It's ju-just…I'm not used to this sort of environment is all." Will questioned Sonny's words in his head. Would this sort of "environment" really have this effect on someone? Even Will had to admit that it was cold in the cabin, but even the fire was helping to warm him up and all he had on was an extra sweater. Will sat down next to Sonny for a few seconds before moving to stand.

"I'll go look for some tea, or coffee or something. Get something warm in your system. You hungry? I could make you something to eat…you must be hungry, you haven't eaten since you got here." Will was rambling, before he could move too far away from the couch, Sonny grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down to sit next to him.

"Just…sit with me, okay? I'm not hungry. I'm not thirsty. I just…I just want to sit here with you, okay?" Will swallowed nervously, knowing that nothing was going to happen, yet secretly wishing that tonight would be the night that they could kiss for the first time. Will was kidding himself though, Sonny was still technically "with" Brian, and Will didn't want to push anything onto Sonny when he was vulnerable and hurt, which he clearly was. Will pushed all of his thoughts aside, just focusing on the man next to him. He laid an arm across the back of the couch, and Sonny moved to snuggle against Will's side. He brought his feet up onto the couch next to him and he wrapped his arms around Will's middle. Will heard Sonny sigh into his chest. Will wrapped his arm around Sonny instead of just laying it on the couch, hoping that things weren't getting to be too much for Sonny; hoping that Sonny would tell him to back off if this became too much for him. Even with the light touches, Will feared that Brian had taken a large toll on Sonny's well-being, on his mental health, to the point where even this closeness would soon become too much of a reminder of the things that Brian had done to him. Will never wanted Sonny to feel scared or like he was going to be hurt while he was with Will. Will just wanted what was best for Sonny. How could Brian not have wanted that? How could he have not seen the amazing person that was right in front of him? After a few minutes of silence, Sonny's shivering ceased for the most part.

"I'm not…I wasn't cold, Will. I was…what if Brian finds us here? What if he kills you? I couldn't live with myself if he killed you." Will pulled away from Sonny so he could look down at him.

"He won't find you. E.J. will make sure of that. Hardly anyone but the Horton family knows about this place. He. Won't. Find. You." Just then a pounding on the door startled them. Sonny grabbed tightly to Will, trying to hide himself in the man's chest. Will ran his fingers through Sonny's hair, trying to soothe him quickly. "I should go see who that is, Sonny." Sonny shook his head against Will's body, making Will sigh. "If it _is_ Brian…I want you in the bathroom. If it is…I'll handle him, okay? Just…go wait in the bathroom." Will stood up, bringing Sonny with him. Going to the bathroom, Will tried to leave Sonny there, but he wouldn't let go of Will's arm.

"Please, Sonny. Please let go. If Brian is here…I want you safe. I _need_ you safe." Sonny could hear the desperation in Will's voice, could see the desperation in Will's eyes, and finally complied. Will smiled at him slightly before closing the bathroom door. He turned around and made his way to the pounding still going on at the front door. Will prayed that it wasn't Brian, but was fearful that it was him. He took a deep breath before swinging the door open, seeing none other than his mother standing in front of him.

"William Horton." Sami was angry, but Will wasn't sure why. She had known about the plan, hadn't she? She was there when him and E.J. had first discussed it.

"Mom! What the fuck?" Sami glared at him for his foul language. "Sorry. But Jesus, you almost gave us heart attacks here. What are you doing here?" Will waited for Sami to answer before allowing her to move into the cabin.

"I'm here to make sure that you don't do anything stupid to hurt that dear boy that we are trying to protect." Will was confused. Sami knew that Will would never hurt Sonny…didn't she? Couldn't she tell how much Sonny meant to him? Even in the short amount of time that he'd known him…

"Mom…I'd never hurt Sonny." His mom sighed, coming over to hug him.

"I know that, sweetie. That's not really what I meant to say. I know you'd never hurt him. I got worried when I hadn't heard from you, neither had E.J. Weren't you supposed to contact someone when you got here and when Sonny got here all safe and sound?" Will pulled away from his mom and smacked his hand against his forehead.

"Shit. I knew I was forgetting something. I was a little preoccupied, Mom." Will blushed when Sami gave him a knowing look. Will just shook his head quickly. "Mom! Nothing like _that_. Get your mind out of the gutter." Sami laughed at Will's tone of voice and his embarrassment.

"Hey, nothing to be embarrassed about." Will groaned.

"Is there a reason why you couldn't have just called me instead of banging on the door at…" Will looked at the clock, seeing that it was nearly 4:30 in the morning. "…This early hour of the morning? Geez, Mom, it's 4:30 in the morning!"

"I just needed to see you…to make sure everything is okay with you and Sonny. Where is Sonny, by the way?" Sami looked around the room without moving an inch. She was currently seated in front of the fireplace where he and Sonny had been sitting less than 10 minutes ago. Will walked over to the bathroom door and knocked softly.

"Sonny, it's Will. It was just my mom at the door. She wanted to come and make sure we were both okay. I forgot to call her and E.J. when you got here." A few seconds later, the bathroom door opened, and Sonny stepped out and into Will's arms. He hugged Will around the middle, almost squeezing the life out of him. "It's okay. Brian's not coming here. It's just my mom. You're fine. You're safe here." Will massaged circles into Sonny's back while speaking softly in his ear. Will knew that Sonny must still be scared. Especially after everything that's happened. Will wouldn't blame him if he was scared for the rest of his life. Will just hoped that he'd be able to help in some way. Sami was looking at the two men tangled together in front of the bathroom door. She smiled, seeing how Sonny was relaxed in Will's arms and how Will was being so considerate and gentle with the other man. This is something that Sami was proud of. She was more proud of her son that she ever has been in her entire life. She could tell that both men were safe and sound: together. She stood up and made herself known to the men before bidding them ado.

"I'll see you boys later. If you need anything…either of you, just call me, okay?" Will nodded, still clutching onto Sonny who wouldn't let go once again. Sami smiled again at them before leaving.

The two men stayed huddled together for many minutes after Sami left. When Will felt the need to pull away, trying to move toward the kitchen to grab something to eat, Sonny stayed attached to him. Will felt worried as Sonny was attaching himself to him multiple times tonight. Only days ago Sonny tried to stay as far from Will as possible. And now? Now he couldn't stay away. Not that Will minded, but he was curious as to why Sonny all of a sudden couldn't distance himself even a foot.

"You can let go you know?" Will tried to laugh it off, hoping Sonny wouldn't get upset, but he did. Sonny let go instantly, moving away from Will and toward the bathroom. But not before Will saw the look of fear and panic in Sonny's brown eyes. Will walked over to the now locked bathroom door. He knocked a few times without any sounds on the other side. His forehead hit the wooden surface standing between him and the man that he just hurt. He said he would never do that, but he did. Honestly, Will wasn't exactly sure what he had done…But Sonny's face said it all. Sonny was hurt and Will needed to fix it.

"Sonny" Will talked through the door. He couldn't hear anything on the other side, and prayed that Sonny wasn't doing anything that he would regret later. "Sonny!" Will yelled, getting increasingly worried after minutes passed with still no sound from Sonny. "Sonny, please tell me that you are okay in there! I didn't mean to hurt you. Please make some sort of noise to tell me you're okay." Still nothing came from the bathroom. "I swear to god I will break this door down if you don't let me know that you're okay in there!" Will knew that this tactic probably wasn't very smart. But he was going out of his mind. Only minutes ago things were fine between them, and now Sonny was locked in the bathroom because of something that Will said. This wasn't going well. Only a couple seconds later and the door unlocked and creaked open slightly. The small gap gave Will the incentive to push the door open further to walk into the bathroom. Sonny wasn't anywhere to be seen. Will heard a small cough and knew that Sonny was in the bathtub, surrounded by the shower curtain. Will smiled to himself, knowing that would be the place he would go if he was upset, too. He walked over and slid the curtain back to see Sonny curled into a ball, arms wound around his legs. Sonny didn't look up, but started talking hurriedly to Will.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable or anything. That's just what…Brian liked me to be around like, all the time, and to be in almost constant contact with him. If I didn't, he'd…" Will stopped him from continuing.

"Sonny. I was in no way uncomfortable. I was just…confused is all." Will put his hand out, trying to get Sonny to leave the bathtub. Sonny wouldn't look up though, so he climbed in the tub with him. Sonny's eyes widened as they landed on Will's blue orbs. "Sorry. I can get out…" Will moved to stand again, but Sonny's legs stretched out to tangle with Will's.

"Don't." A smile made its way to both of their faces. Will situated himself again, hands dropping to his lap, one of them dangling and touching one of Sonny's legs. Will's fingers absentmindedly started to gently caress Sonny's thigh before he started talking again.

"You okay?" Sonny nodded at him, head tilted to one side. "I didn't mean to sound like I was flipping out about you being so…close. I just…A few days ago, you couldn't stand to be near me. And now…it was just a surprise." Sonny nodded again, eyes slipping closed, head banging into the shower wall as he laid his head down. The movements of Will's fingers were doing wonders on his body. He knew that he shouldn't be feeling this way…At least, not right now. But Sonny couldn't help but feel like this was how things were supposed to be. They were sitting in a bathtub for crying out loud. Just talking. Well, Will was talking, trying to make sure he was all right, but it was nice all the same. They stayed silent for long minutes, seemingly forever. Sonny's eyes stayed closed, and Will's fingers continued to stroke the sweatpants-covered thigh that was closest to him. Will looked down at his hands, suddenly nervous, realizing that he was caressing Sonny's leg and stopped his movements.

"Don't stop. Please?" Sonny asked him. This was never how he had been treated. Brian had been rough, never gentle. Not like this. Will's gentle fingers rubbing circles and other patterns was the best feeling he's had in a long time. With Brian, things were heated at first, Sonny felt the arousal, but once the roughness started, that arousal disappeared. It was replaced by fear. Every time Brian would come near him, his body would tense and his mind would race. He was afraid of the things that Brian could do to him. He never realized how far things could really go. Not until the night that Sonny met Will for the first time. His morning had been perfect. Will had been an adorable guy that he met and enjoyed talking to. But then he showed up for lunch with Neil and that day suddenly turned to shit. Brian had been becoming rougher with him over the few weeks previous to his meeting Will, yet things had never gone further than Sonny was really comfortable with. After quickly speaking with Will in the men's room that day, where Brian so happened to barge in at the same moment, things took a turn for the worse. That was the night things went further than Sonny could handle. The night things went further than Sonny would ever be comfortable doing, at least with Brian that is.

To be continued…


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note: Here is the next chapter! WARNING: This was kind of hard for me to write because of what happened to Sonny...So it could be difficult to read, too. Just so you know, there is vulgar language and maybe even a little bit of graphic sexual stuff. But here is where you finally find out more about what's going on with Sonny. Please R & R. ENJOY.

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**Chapter 12**

_Flashback_

_Once Will walked out of the bathroom, Sonny was alone with Brian…in an enclosed space. The look Brian was giving Sonny made him more uneasy than usual. He tried walking to the door, but his efforts were unsuccessful seeing as Brian was standing in the way. In the next instant, Sonny was against the wall, a firm hand wrapped around his throat cutting off most of his airway. His hands flew to Brian's grip, trying to claw at the hand choking him, but that just made the grip tighten, so he eased up on the clawing. _

_"What'd you say to him? Huh, slut? What'd you say to the precious boy that you so obviously have a thing for?" Sonny's eyed widened, still having the hardest time breathing. Was he really that obvious? He didn't think that he was too obvious…He just met the guy today after all. "Did you tell him about me?" Sonny opened his mouth, but closed it when he knew there was no way he'd be able to speak. He shook his head swiftly. The grip on his throat loosened a bit at that and he took the opportunity to take a few quick staggered breaths through his nose. "Do you want to fuck him?" If Sonny could breath or use his throat muscles at all, he would've gulped at the words coming out of Brian's mouth. "Huh? You want to take his ass, don't you?" Sonny's eyes moved over to the door, seeing it open slowly. Brian's hands left his throat suddenly, his own going up to where Brian's hand had been. He was gasping for air when the guy who walked in the bathroom smirked at the pair, obviously having thought that they were doing something sexual. Sonny couldn't believe the things that people thought sometimes; Sonny's heavy breathing wasn't from sex. He hadn't ever really had sex, and he definitely wasn't sure if Brian would be the right person to have it with anyway. He was torn out of his thoughts by a tight grip on his wrist. Brian was pulling him out of the bathroom and back into the restaurant. They were at the table before Sonny could blink, Neil staring up at them in confusing and slight annoyance. Obviously he came to lunch mostly to see Sonny, but Brian had taken up most of Sonny's attention during the last 45 minutes or so. Brian grabbed their coats, threw some money down on the table and tugged on Sonny's hand to lead him out of the restaurant. Sonny looked back at Neil and mouthed an 'I'm sorry', hoping that he could explain later, which meant making something up of course, as to why he left so suddenly with Brian._

_They were at Brian's apartment before Sonny could really comprehend what had just happened in the bathroom. Just as they were through the door, Brian's jacket was on the ground, and Sonny was against the wall again. The hand was back on his neck yet in a less aggressive manner. Sonny hissed at the contact, the previous choking having already started bruising on his neck. Brian's hand moved down over his shoulder, down to the edge of Sonny's jacket. Sonny could tell that Brian was being gentler with him now, making him think that he was sort of apologizing for his previous actions. Those thoughts went out the window when Sonny's jacket and shirt were practically ripped from his body. He looked up at Brian, but only saw Brian gazing at his body like he was a piece of meat. Brian pressed his lower half against him and Sonny could feel his arousal against his thigh. He wanted to jump away from the contact, but being pushed against a wall didn't really help that desire. His head was pushed to the side and a kiss was placed on the already-formed handprint-shaped bruise on his neck. His breathing shuddered suddenly, not really knowing what from. Maybe it was because he had never been touched like this before. He had never felt this vulnerable before. Honestly, Sonny didn't like it one bit. He was brought back to reality, a scream ripping through his lungs, when Brian bit into his bare shoulder to the point of nearly drawing blood. Sonny felt a hand at his belt, but he tried wiggling away from the hand. This isn't what he wanted. Brian wouldn't let it go though, the belt falling to the floor just before his pants did. Brian's body pressed against him again, only Sonny's thin boxers covering him. Brian scratched his nails down Sonny's chest and stomach, moving to go under the waistband of Sonny's boxers. _

_"Stop. Don't do that." Sonny tried to get Brian's hands away from him, but he was unsuccessful. Brian's fiery eyes met his own before his boxers were pulled down. He was grabbed roughly around the waist and pulled toward the bed. Sonny tried to struggle, tried to distance himself from Brian on the way to the bed, but Brian wouldn't let go. Brian covered Sonny's body with his own on top of the bed, pressing into him fully, making Sonny whimper. Sonny knew this wasn't going to end well. This was his worst nightmare coming true. Brian's teeth tugged on his earlobe and his mouth dropped open. Brian's hand came over his mouth suddenly, covering it and the screams that wanted to rip through Sonny's lungs. Sonny's eyes widened at Brian's actions and at the words that started flowing from Brian's mouth. _

_"You didn't answer me before, Sonny. You want to fuck that Will guy, don't you? You want to take his virgin ass as your own? Am I right?" Sonny tried to struggle, but Brian didn't let up. "He does have a nice ass, as I'm sure you've noticed. Maybe I'll fuck him. Fuck his tight ass so hard he won't be able to sit for a week. Maybe I should fuck him and make you watch it. Watch my cock going in and out of him while you're tied to a chair next to the bed. You wouldn't be able to do anything about it. You'd just have to watch me take him…Just like I'm about to take you." Brian's hands moved to unzip his own pants, pulling his hard cock out, and Sonny wanted to puke when he felt Brian's skin against his own. Brian's dick moved down to where Sonny's entrance was, not wanting this to be happening, but knowing that there wasn't anything he could do about it. His hands were pushed against the bed above his head and he knew that he'd have bruises on his wrists tomorrow, along with the bruise already on his neck. He wriggled his body again, but was thwarted when Brian pushed the head of his dick against him. Sonny's body thrashed and a scream made it's way past his lips. His mouth was covered by Brian's; his wet tongue forcing it's way into his mouth. Brian pulled away suddenly. _

_"Don't bite, or you'll regret it." Brian's tongue was in his mouth again and he stopped moving altogether, tears blurring his vision. His eyes remained open as his mouth was assaulted and his ass was being ripped open. He internally sobbed, knowing that he'd get it worse if the sobs actually made themselves known. Brian didn't give Sonny any time to adjust. Brian knew that Sonny was a virgin, but he didn't go easy on him; if anything he was rougher on him than ever. _

_The words that he wished he could scream were being shouted through his mind. 'Stop! This isn't what I want! You're hurting me!'_

_The words that came back at him confused him. "Sonny!" That wasn't that confusing, but the next words were. "Sonny, wake up. Please, wake up." He tried to listen to the voice, but it wasn't Brian's. Who's voice was that? "Please, wake up! Sonny!"_

Sonny woke up suddenly, not realizing at first that he was just having a nightmare of that night with Brian. He tried to scramble away from the hands that were rubbing his back and arms, but he was stopped.

"Don't touch me." Sonny tried moving again, and was allowed to this time. He looked over at the person who was touching him before and saw Will, hands raised in silent surrender. Sonny noticed his scared expression and almost felt guilty for the way he just reacted.

"You were screaming. I thought…you were having a nightmare or something. I just wanted to help you." Will put his hands down, moving to get off the couch they were on. Sonny hadn't even noticed where he was once he had woken up, just had the lingering memory of Brian's hands on him, his anatomy pushing into him roughly.

"Will," Sonny whispered into the night air. Will turned around slowly to face him. Sonny's face was now wet with tears and Will's heart broke at the image. Will sat down on the bed again, but stopped moving toward Sonny when he saw him flinch.

"Sonny." Will sighed, not knowing exactly what to do. He felt the need to comfort Sonny, especially now that he was crying, but he didn't want to push the boundaries. Sonny was curled up against him in the blink of an eye. Will stiffened, trying to not move at all. Sonny's face rubbed against Will's shirt and Will's body relaxed slightly. "I know that Brian hurt you…I won't ever do that. I promise you that." Sonny smiled into Will's shirt at Will's words.

"Brian didn't just hurt me…He took…He _took_ me." Will's face scrunched up in confusion at Sonny's words.

"What do you mea-?" Will's words broke off when Sonny's broken eyes looked up at him, willing him to understand without having to say it again. "No…" Will's choked voice rang out.

"Will…"

"No… No. No!" Will stood up and started pacing picking up small things and throwing them across the room in a frenzy.

"Will…"

"Why the fuck would he do that to you? _How_ could he do that to you? Fuck! I could tell that he was bad news, but…God! No… Not you, Sonny. Not you!" Will stopped when Sonny came to stand in front of him.

"Will. If he hadn't done it to me, he would've found you and done it to you."

To be continued…


	13. Chapter 13

****_A/N: Newest chapter! Longer than past chapters. Hope you enjoy. Still might be a little hard to read...Maybe not as bad as the last chapter though... Thanks for reading everyone! Reviews are greatly appreciated. _

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**Chapter 13**

_"Why the fuck would he do that to you? How could he do that to you? Fuck! I could tell that he was bad news, but…God! No… Not you, Sonny. Not you!" Will stopped when Sonny came to stand in front of him. _

_"Will. If he hadn't done it to me, he would've found you and done it to you." _

Will was frozen, still standing in front of Sonny. "What?" Will didn't know what else to say.

"The day we met…after I talked to you in the bathroom and Brian came in…he pushed me against the wall and accused me of having a thing for you." Sonny moved to sit on the bed, Will moving to sit next to him. "I didn't answer him…and he…well, you know." Sonny's hand moved to caress his neck, still bruised after many forceful assaults. Will's hand joined Sonny's, gently ghosting over the dark bruise that had faded and come back full force multiple times, not that Will had necessarily known that. "Anyway, then once we got back to Brian's place he started to undress me and…he was saying all these things to me. I tried to get him to stop, but he wouldn't listen." Sonny's face screwed up in frustration and pain.

"You don't have to tell me…" Will whispered, fingers skimming up Sonny's neck to caress his cheek softly.

"I…I do. I think I need to tell someone. I need to tell you." Will nodded at him, letting him know that if he wanted to talk, he was there to listen. "He kept asking if I wanted to f-fuck you and how he thought you had a nice ass. He pushed me on the bed and he kept saying how he should take you. How he should tie me to a chair and make me watch him while he…oh god." Sonny hopped off the bed suddenly, running to the bathroom before vomiting into the toilet. Will was behind him in an instant, rubbing his back comfortingly until Sonny's heaves subsided. Will ran to get a glass of water to bring back for Sonny. Sonny took it after a few minutes of calming down.

"Just to rinse." Will whispered and Sonny nodded. Rinsing his mouth a few times, he moved to stand up, Will moving toward him again to help him up easily. Sonny tried smiling up at him, but failed. Will chuckled a little bit at Sonny's expression. "Sorry, you looked adorable just then." Sonny blushed and ducked his head, looking at the ground.

"Can I…" Sonny tried asking.

"What? Can you what?" Sonny bit his lip before talking again.

"Is there any sort of sprite or bubbly something here? My stomach is still…churning," Sonny ended in a soft whisper. He closed his eyes, trying to get the image of that night and the memory of Brian's words out of his mind.

"I can look." Will smiled at Sonny, turning to leave the bathroom in search of something bubbly for Sonny. Sonny followed him into the kitchen, standing next to the counter with his eyes downcast toward the floor. Sonny stopped himself from jumping when a glass was set down on the island in front of him suddenly. Sonny looked up, seeing Will smiling shyly at him. Sonny reached for the glass, noticing the bubbles swirling around the glass and smiled.

"Thank you, Will." Sonny brought the glass up to his lips, taking small sips of the bubbly liquid, not sure if his stomach could handle it. He felt Will's eyes on him as he drank. He looked over the expanse of the glass into Will's eyes as he continued to take small sips. His stomach started to feel better after he drank half of the glass.

"Better?" Will asked him. Sonny smiled at him again, putting the glass down on the counter.

"Yes, much better." Sonny replied. Will moved around the counter and toward the fireplace, putting another log on the fire that was slowly going out, making it roar back to life after a few minutes.

"So, there's a bedroom if you want to take it. I can start a fire in there for you." Will mentioned to Sonny, seeing Sonny's eyes fluttering a little bit.

"Where are you…" Sonny started. Will stopped him, interrupting him.

"I'll stay in here." Sonny nodded, not knowing if having Will in the other room would make him feel better, or if having him in the same room as him would be better.

"Okay, I'll take the bedroom, I guess." Will moved toward the bedroom, signaling Sonny to follow him. Will moved to start a fire before pointing things out to Sonny.

"So, you know where the bathroom and the kitchen are. This is the bedroom. There are extra blankets in the cabinet there, towels are in the cupboard above the toilet in the bathroom if you wanted to take a shower. Um, yea. It's not much." Will chuckled nervously. Sonny sat down on the bed. "Oh, um, I brought some of my clothes that I thought would fit you… They might be a little big, but…"

"That's fine." Sonny said. While Will went to the living room to grab the bags he brought, Sonny sat down on the bed, ghosting his hand over the soft bedding. He sighed, hoping that tonight he would be able to sleep. The past few nights have been rather treacherous. Not knowing whether or not Brian would show up at the coffeehouse to bring him home or worse, to Brian's place for the night. The past week, he spent hardly any time at his own apartment. Brian would seemingly "sweep" him off his feet in front of the customers and Sonny's co-workers before bringing him back to Brian's place for hours of doing whatever Brian wanted. Sonny shook his head and stood up. He walked over to the fireplace to warm up. Will came back a few minutes later, placing the bags on the chaise against the far war.

"So, I'm not exactly sure what's here…I just kind of threw some things in a bag. So, you can kind of look through these bags for something to wear. Do you, um, need anything else before bed?" Will asked, turning to see Sonny warming his hands by the fireplace.

"Um, some more of that bubbly stuff would be good?" Sonny asked, more than said.

"I'll be right back. You get changed, okay?" Sonny turned to look at Will, who turned to walk out of the bedroom and back to the kitchen. Sonny walked over to the bags that Will brought in, opening them and searching through them carefully. He pulled out a plain white t-shirt, plaid sleep pants, and a cubs sweatshirt. He dressed slowly, careful of the bruises that he had littered over his body. He went to pull the covers back on the bed when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." The door opened and Will's head popped through.

"I didn't want to walk in on you while you were…you know." Will said, blushing nervously. Walking into the room toward Sonny, he set the glass on one of the bedside tables. Then he noticed what clothes Sonny had picked out. Will bit his bottom lip, feeling slightly aroused seeing Sonny wearing his clothes; especially his favorite sweatshirt. He turned around quickly and walked toward the door. He didn't want Sonny to feel uncomfortable, and the bulge that was starting to form in Will's pants surely would make him uncomfortable. "Goodnight, Sonny." Will glanced back at Sonny, who had climbed under the covers before closing the door.

Sonny was snuggled under the covers, warm from the fire in his room that was starting to die down slightly. He didn't want to get up to put another log on the fire, yet he was worried about becoming too cold in the middle of the night. He climbed out of bed, quickly walking to the fire pile in the corner of the room and grabbed a log to put in the fireplace. He suddenly heard a noise that startled him and he dropped the log on the floor, his head turned toward the window where he heard the noise and there was nothing but a tree there. He leaned down to pick up the log when the door opened and he swirled toward the door, startled once again.

"Sonny. You okay in here? I thought I heard…" Will whispered into the cold air. Will saw Sonny crouched down picking up the log from the floor.

"Sorry, I dropped it on the floor. I didn't wake you, did I?" Sonny bit his lip nervously, moving to put the log on the fire to warm up the room.

"No. I just heard a noise, thought I'd check on you…" Will said nervously. That sounded better in his head.

"Thanks, Will. I'm fine." Sonny walked back to the bed, climbing under the covers. Will was still standing in the doorway when Sonny looked back at him.

"Okay…Well, I'll just…yeah. Goodnight." Will left the room and Sonny sighed. Sonny was nervous to be alone now. It was dark outside and dark in the room. Except for the light from the fire, the room was pitch black, and Sonny didn't like that one bit. The dark just seemed to remind him of things that he didn't want to be reminded of. He snuggled further into the blankets and tried to fall asleep.

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It had been at least a few hours; at least that's how long it felt to Sonny. Looking at the clock on the bedside table confirmed his feeling. It was now 3 AM and Sonny knew that he wasn't getting to sleep anytime soon. He heard the wind blowing harshly outside, rain starting to pound against the windows. He heard other noises that he was afraid of. He feared that the noises were Brian, coming to get him back. Coming to take him back to his apartment to take him again…and again and again. He shuddered at the thought and cried out when a crack of lightning lit up the room and a shadow was seen in the corner of the room. He pulled the covers over his head and if he were thinking clearly he would've laughed at the way he was acting; like a child. The thunder and lightning continue for long minutes, only getting worse over time and he whimpered again at the noises smacking against the window. He was fighting an internal battle. He wanted to go out to Will, to feel that little bit of comfort that he felt when he was with him earlier. But he didn't think that would be okay. He was scared that Will would turn out to be more like Brian; pissed off and angry that Sonny woke him up, which would lead to a punishment that Sonny couldn't bear taking.

Sonny threw the covers off of him, standing up and almost screaming as the bags on the chaise looked like someone laying down in the dark of night. He walked quickly yet quietly into the living room where Will would be. He heard quiet snores every few minutes and Sonny regretted getting up. The noise from the storm was louder out here, and Sonny didn't want to wake Will. He didn't want to wake the sleeping man that had been trying to help him all along. Sonny moved in front of the couch where Will was sprawled out and Sonny felt even worse. Will was too tall for the couch, so he looked very uncomfortable, and would probably be in pain tomorrow. Another crack of lightning much louder than the last few made Sonny give up on his inner battle and try to wake Will.

"Will." Sonny crouched down in front of the man, seeing the beauty that Sonny noticed right from their first meeting. Sonny breath caught in his throat at the sight of him up close and unconscious to the world. Without thinking, Sonny reached out to run his fingers over Will's flawless skin, running into Will's blonde locks that were in slight disarray from sleep. A minute later, Sonny flew back in surprise, falling on his ass on the ground, catching his fall with his hands that were just fondling Will's perfection in his sleep. Will's bleary eyes looked over at him, confused for a minute before realizing what was going on.

"Sonny?" Will's voice was deep and husky from sleep. He sat up quickly, fearing something was wrong. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm…I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…" Sonny couldn't even complete a sentence; his thoughts were reeling. He stood up shakily and whimpered as another blast of thunder and lightning crashed over the cabin. Will's face turned to one filled with understanding and sympathy. He stood up in front of Sonny. Sonny blushed, biting his lip and looking at the ground in embarrassment at being afraid of a storm; like a baby.

"It's okay. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Will reached out to rub Sonny's arm gently, still partially asleep, not realizing that this touch might not be okay. But Sonny didn't mind it. They were close; almost hugging when another crack of lightning came down. Sonny threw his arms around Will's torso, pulling the other man close to him in his time of fear. His face was hidden in Will's shirt and Will just ran his hands over Sonny's back soothingly. They stood there for what seemed like forever, the storm dying down slightly outside the cabin.

"You wanna try sleeping again?" Sonny held tighter to Will, not wanting to be alone.

"Can you…Will you come with me? Please?" Sonny asked, hoping that Will wouldn't shut him down. He wasn't sure if he couldn't handle that right now.

"Sure, Sonny." Will replied. Sonny looked up at Will, relief shining in his eyes. He let Will lead them into the bedroom, hands clasped together. Sonny felt relieved at the support he was feeling right now. Holding Will's hand…it felt like it was grounding him. Will let Sonny lay down and Will sat up against the headboard next to him. Sonny looked at the comforter nervously, not wanting to push his boundaries, but needing more of Will's comfort and warmth. He shivered when he felt Will's hand in his hair; caressing his scalp soothingly. Sonny shifted closer to Will's body, his stomach pressed against Will's leg, face pressed into Will's side. Will's body stiffened for a moment before relaxing. Sonny was the one calling the shots here, Will was just letting things happen as Sonny allowed them; all he wanted was for Sonny to be comfortable. Will didn't know how long it had been, but he heard Sonny's breathing start to even out. He knew that Sonny was soon going to fully be asleep. Will tried to move off the bed to go back to the couch, but Sonny's arm tightened around Will's stomach; his face still pressed the Will's side.

"Don't." Will sighed. He thought he'd be able to slip out without Sonny noticing, but that wasn't the case.

"Sonny…"

"Don't leave. Please." Sonny's voice was slightly muffled, he was speaking into Will's side. Will sighed, knowing that he was giving in to the man that was next to him. He shifted down to settle next to Sonny, pulling Sonny further into his arms. Sonny's face now rested in the crook of Will's neck, breathing softly on his skin and making goose bumps appear all over Will's body. Will felt himself being affected by the man next to him and tried to think of how perfect this moment was to try to stave off the arousal that was threatening to push through the surface. He breathed deeply, the scent of Sonny reaching his nostrils. The aroma of Sonny and the warmth radiating from his body next to him was enough to help Will fall into a deep sleep next to the already sleeping Sonny.

To be continued…


	14. Chapter 14

_Sorry this chapter is super short...I might be nice and update once more this week, maybe Saturday, so you folks don't have to wait 'til next Wednesday for a longer update. ENJOY. :)_

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**Chapter 14**

Sonny's POV

Sonny woke up feeling more rested than he had in a long time. After he blinked open his eyes and tried to stretch out his body, he froze. There was someone next to him. Shit. Sonny knew a good night's sleep was too good to be true. Brian would wake up soon and want to fuck Sonny in oblivion, and Sonny wasn't comfortable with that. Sonny didn't move, hardly even breathed, especially when he felt the bed shift. Sonny's eyes closed, squeezing his lids tightly together, dreading the next touch he would feel. But it never came. Instead, he heard a quiet gasp and a quiet 'fuck' spill from the person's lips before the person moved off the bed and padded out of the room.

Sonny was having a little bit of a hard time placing the voice, but it surely wasn't Brian. Brian wouldn't have left. Surely it wasn't him. Only then did he completely open his eyes and move so he was lying on his back. He noticed his surroundings and quickly became startled that he didn't recognize where he was. A few moments of quiet panic occurred before the door creaked open once again and someone walked into the room with a 2 cups of coffee.

Will.

Sonny sighed in relief, and Will smiled at him when he noticed he was awake. Sonny could tell that Will heard his sigh of relief as well, the smile on his face only growing at the sound.

"G'morning, Sonny." Will said quietly, not wanting to talk to loud since it was so early and since they both just woke up. When Will sits on the edge of the bed, he extends one of the cups of coffee in Sonny's direction, willing him to take it. Sonny takes the cup and hesitates only for a second before taking a small sip. The previous night's fiasco making him a little uneasy about drinking the bitter coffee, at least compared to the bubbly liquid he was practically inhaling last night. He had finished the glass the night before in only 30 minutes or so, and he had wanted more. But he felt uncomfortable getting himself more, and didn't know if Will had already been sleeping. After a few moments of silence, both men drinking their coffee and looking in all sorts of different directions, Will started to speak again.

"So, did you sleep alright? I mean, after the storm died down and everything?" Will asked, hoping that Sonny was able to get at least a few hours of non-restless sleep. He wasn't sure what time the storm had started the night before. Will had been so tired that he basically passed out the moment he laid down, but he had a feeling Sonny hadn't fallen asleep until he and Will were in the cabin's only bed together.

"I slept fine. Better later in the night for sure." Sonny said quietly, looking up at Will over the rim of his mug. Will smiled at Sonny, feeling and hoping that he was the cause of this "restful" sleep. The butterflies in the pit of his stomach, as much as he tried to make them go away for Sonny's sake, were flying around like there was no tomorrow. He knew that having feelings for Sonny at a time like this would be hard. Knowing that Sonny had been going through something terrible, and in large part because of Will himself. But he had to push the feelings of anger out of his system; at least for now. He didn't want to act in any way that would remind Sonny of the man he was hurt by. As much as he wanted to belive he knew Sonny well, he clearly didn't. He certainly didn't know Brian at all, and didn't know how he treated Sonny other than the sexual and abusive ways. Will feared that those were the only ways Brian ever regarded Sonny at all. Will didn't really want to find out.

Will was broken from his reverie at the blaring ringing of his phone. He quickly jumped up from the bed and practically ran to get to his phone before it went to voicemail. Sonny could only hear parts of what Will was saying, and he couldn't be sure who Will was even talking to. That was, until Will used the other person's name before hanging up.

_E.J._

Sonny remembered telling Will that Neil let him in on the plan, but that was only partially true. Neil hadn't exactly told Sonny anything, at least not anything important. Other than the fact that Will was helping him in some way, Sonny had no clue what "way" that was, or who that involved other than Neil. Sonny recalled hearing his parents talk about E.J. only a little bit over the course of his years of living at home, but nothing much on the good side. Mostly they talked about how evil and conniving he was, and how he was only as good of a lawyer as Snooki was an actress. The thought made Sonny snort in laughter, both when he first heard his mother say it and now.

"What's so funny?" Will asked him. Sonny chuckled for another second before ceasing his sounds. He looked over at Will, who was standing in the doorway, a halo of light falling over him from behind. Sonny, for a short minute, couldn't speak. The words got caught in his throat at the sight of Will.

"Sonny?"

"Hmm?" Sonny hummed in response, forgetting that Will had asked him a question in the first place. He became flustered, knowing that Will was staring at him. He let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding and then answered Will's original question. "Sorry…Um, just remembering something my mom said before."

"Well, that's good, I guess. Good you weren't laughing at me, that is." Will smiled a crooked smile at Sonny. Sonny returned the smile, finally feeling comfortable with the man across the room from him. He had honestly felt comfortable with Will from the moment they met. He never felt uncomfortable whenever he was around, yet Brian made him feel more nervous when he would see Will. Brian; the man that would he would forever hate. He didn't think he'd ever be able to get over the things that Brian did to him and he had a feeling people would understand that. He just hoped, with time, he would be able to live his life the way he used to live; before Brian ever happened.

To be continued…


	15. Chapter 15

_Here it is! The chapter I'm sure a lot of you have been waiting for :) I hope you like this chapter...I'm posting it EARLY for all of my loyal readers. Thank you to everyone who's reading and reviewing, it means a lot to me. I'm glad everyone's liking the story so far. ENJOY!_

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**Chapter 15**

It had been a few days since Sonny came to what was known as "Horton cabin". So far, things had been going well, other than the nightmares and his sometimes-skittish behavior. Sonny could tell that Will was frustrated sometimes and he didn't blame him, especially with the way Sonny had been acting around him. Sonny honestly couldn't explain the way he was acting, but he still felt as though he needed to protect Will in some way. He still feared that Brian knew where he was. Still woke up drenched in sweat, screaming Will's name from horrible nightmares that he couldn't forget. That's where he was now. Sitting up in bed, sweat-covered, and voice hoarse. Next thing he knew, Will was stumbling into the room, eyes still half-closed in sleep. Sonny wished that he could've woken up before the screaming, that way Will could've stayed asleep and wouldn't have known about tonight. Except that was a lie. Sonny had a feeling that Will knew all about the nightmares, even if he hadn't said anything. Yes, Will came in to the bedroom to check on Sonny each time he heard screams or crying from the other room, but Sonny had hoped he didn't known just what the dreams were about. Sonny had never told him, and Will had never asked. For that, Sonny was grateful.

On the other hand, Sonny thought that maybe it would help if he talked about them. Especially since they revolved around the man that always came in to comfort him and make sure he was okay afterward. He was thankful that he was here with someone that seemed to care, rather than being by himself. He wasn't sure if he could handle the after effects of the nightmares alone and in the dark. To Sonny right now, Will was a godsend.

"Sonny, y'okay?" Will sleepy voice slurred into the slightly warmed air of the bedroom. Sonny opened his mouth, about to respond but his throat was too sore. He made a small croaking sound before he gave up. Plus, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to say anyway. He wasn't okay; no where close to okay actually, so he couldn't say yes. But with Will here, he wasn't terrified like in his nightmares, so he couldn't exactly say no either. He was at a standstill. Maybe not being able to talk right now was a good thing. Will came over to sit on the edge of the bed, making Sonny feel even better. Having Will close to him after the nightmares not only slightly terrified him, but also relieved him greatly. He wasn't exactly sure which emotion reigned over the other. "Y'wanna talk about it?" Will asked him, coming to sit down on the edge of the bed.

"I don't know if I can…" Sonny's hoarse voice creaked out. Will frowns at the sound. He moves to stand up, but Sonny speaks again quickly. "Where're you going?"

Will, having heard the panic in Sonny's weak voice stopped immediately, sitting on the bed again. "Just gonna go get you something to drink. Your throat must hurt. Tea?" Will asked him kindly. Sonny's heart swelled in his chest, feeling cared for in this moment more than he ever has before.

"M'fine. Just…I just need…you, right now. Okay?" Sonny said, swallowing thickly through the pain lingering in his throat, trying to hold back the emotions threatening to break through to the surface. Sonny saw Will nod his head before they sit in silence for many minutes. Sonny couldn't take it anymore. He starts crawling, slowly but surely, closer to Will; stopping when he reached his side, feet dangling over the edge the bed. Sides touching, Sonny closes his eyes in contentment, feeling very at peace in this moment, even with the lingering nightmare swirling around in his mind. Will takes a deep breath, almost sighing from the contact with Sonny. Only after a few days, Will was used to the contact that Sonny seemed custom to share with him. If Will was in a different situation, he might have been uncomfortable with the high amount of contact, but with Sonny, everything felt perfect. They sat there for a long time, losing track of the minutes that passed by as their side were pressed together and the warmth was seeping from one man to the other. Sonny felt comforted, head eventually lolling to the side, falling to rest on Will's shoulder. Will was wide-awake, and the silence gave Sonny time to think more about the nightmare he had woken up from tonight. He eventually starts talking, more in a hushed whisper from the lack of strength in his voice. But the words are still startling to both Sonny and Will.

"I told you about what Brian did to me. And what he said he'd do to you if…if I didn't let him. But I haven't told you…I need to tell you about these nightmares. I feel like I…I trust you, Will. And I'm scared, but I trust you."

"You _can_ trust me, Sonny. And are you sure you're ready to talk about this…? I can't imagine…" Will started, getting cut off by Sonny.

"I'm ready. I think I should've talked to someone right after it all started, but…Like I said, I was scared. I _am_ scared. But I need to face it." Sonny took a heaving breath, pushing his side further into Will's while doing so. "I know that you've heard me…screaming your name every night. And you've been nice enough to not say anything, but I…I keep having this nightmare that Brian finds me. He finds _us_. He comes to this cabin, and he doesn't just come to get me…He comes to…" Sonny closes his eyes, tears coming to the surface at remembering his recurring nightmare. He feels Will's arm slide across his shoulders, cocooning him in a shield of warmth, giving him the courage to continue.

"He comes in and kills you. He ties me up and makes me watch as he carves into you with a knife. He makes it slow, and painful for you and I just sit there. I'm just sitting there and doing nothing. Just screaming your name, trying to get you to survive, but he's killed you and I can't let him kill you Will, I just can't. You can't die on me, not when…You just can't. You can't, Will." Sonny cries, sobs coming out harsher and his throat closing in on him. He can't talk anymore, can hardly even breathe. He can't see either, tears flooding his vision so badly that he can't see Will moving, moving them to lay back on the bed facing each other. Will's arms are around Sonny's body, trying to comfort him, but his cries are painful for Will to even hear. Will never could've imagined that this was what Sonny had been screaming about. He thought…his thoughts didn't involve anything like this. Will almost wanted to cry himself at the way Sonny was reacting to these nightmares. Sonny just feels Will's hands rubbing up and down his back, his arms, anywhere that Will can reach to try comforting the man that is breaking down next to him. Sonny feels utterly embarrassed, but can't think about that now, he's with Will and Will is okay. He can't help but feel that this can't last forever; this happiness he feels with Will can't last forever. He just wishes that he could hold on to something so he could remember this forever. Remember how comforting Will is, how great of a listener he is, and how he doesn't freak out about anything that Sonny tells him. So Sonny does something that he realizes later he really shouldn't have done.

Words hadn't been spoken for a while, and Sonny's cries had lessened considerably; all because of Will. Sonny couldn't help but look up at Will lying next to him, facing him with his gorgeous blue eyes and his flawless face. Sonny was mesmerized and he just needed something, something to help him forget about everything that was running through his mind, everything that had happened to him in the past few weeks. He just wanted to forget. Yet in a way, he wanted to remember this comfort. He was afraid he would never have this again, and wanted to just take it all in while he could. Of course the reasoning behind the comforting wasn't exactly what Sonny would've hoped for, but nobody could've guessed that this was how Sonny's life would've turned out.

So being here with Will, feeling the warmth seeping from Will's body to his own made Sonny's mind swirl. He clearly wasn't thinking straight when he quickly placed his lips over Will's, hearing a surprised gasp fall from Will's lips. The kiss lasted for only a few seconds, but Sonny was as surprised as Will once their lips were inches apart once again. Will couldn't say anything, just blinks back at Sonny's wide eyes. Sonny sits up in a flurry.

"Oh, god. Shit." Sonny curses, being unable to stop himself from freaking out at his actions and the lack of response from Will. Sonny is scared of what Will is going to say, so he moves to get off the bed.

"Sonny…"

"Don't…You don't have to say anything. I…I'm sorry, Will."

"No. There's no need for you to be sorry. I should be saying sorry." Will said.

"Will…I just, I can't believe I just kissed you. You're not…You don't even like me like that, do you? And I just ruined whatever friendship or pity or whatever it was that you were showing me." Sonny was standing now, voice still croaking slightly, but his blind panic made the pain seem non-existent.

"You didn't ruin anything, Sonny. Stop pacing, please! You're making me dizzy." Sonny stopped walking back and forth, but made no move to sit down again. "I like you, Sonny. A lot, but you've…been through a lot and I think this is maybe just…" Will said.

"You're right…It's too, that'd just be too fast. I'm such an idiot. I'm sorry, Will. I just wanted to forget about everything Brian did to me. I just wanted to feel something again, to feel something _good_ again. You make me feel…"

"How do I make you feel, Sonny?" Will said, surprisingly closer to Sonny that he was just a minute ago.

"I feel…good whenever I'm with you. I just…that sounds stupid." Sonny said, blushing slightly.

"No, it doesn't. You make me feel good, too." Will replies. Sonny looks up at Will and they share a small smile. Sonny feels better now that they've smoothed that little kiss over. As much as Sonny wished Will would've kissed him back, Sonny knows and understand that it's just too soon. Too soon after everything Brian did to even be thinking about jumping into bed with another guy. Even though he's been in the same bed as Will over the last few days, at least a time or two.

"Can I...get that tea now?" Sonny asks nervously. Will just smiles, taking Sonny's hand in his as he leads them to the kitchen.

Sonny is sitting in front of the fireplace on the couch, or over the last few days, Will's bed. He's sipping his tea slowly, careful not to burn his mouth by drinking too quickly. After only a few sips of the hot liquid, his throat is becoming less pained and more soothed by the minute. Sonny sees Will yawn and stretch from the corner of his eye.

"Why don't you go sleep in the bedroom? Sorry I've kept you up…" Sonny says, wanting Will to be comfortable for the rest of the night. Sonny suddenly feels terrible for making Will sleep on the couch when the bed is clearly large enough for two people.

"No, you take the bedroom, I'm fine here."

"Will, the bed is big enough for two people. That is…unless you don't want to sleep in the same bed, with me…" Sonny says nervously. He doesn't know why he feels the need to try calling Will out, but he says what he does without second-guessing himself.

"I…if you're fine with that. I mean I wouldn't have a problem with…yes." Will says, clearly flustered. Sonny smiles at him, sipping his tea one more time before setting it on the coffee table in front of him.

"Good. Because after my nightmare…not sure if I really want to sleep alone." Sonny says, standing up and walking toward the bedroom, not looking behind him to see if Will is following, yet somehow can sense that Will is behind him the entire walk back.

To be continued...


	16. Chapter 16

_This is a short chapter...So sorry about that! But I only have 1 more chapter written after this one...I haven't been writing too much lately, but hopefully I'll get another chapter or two done so I don't run out of them and leave you readers hanging for too long between updates! Wish me luck with writing :) Please enjoy this chapter...Some of you may be a little angry, but don't worry, next chapter is better. :)_

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**Chapter 16**

The butterflies erupted in his stomach as he laid down in bed, seeing Will enter the bedroom and climb in with him. Sonny smiled over at Will, wanting him to know how thankful he was that he was with him right now. Will was laying on his back while Sonny was on his side. Only a few minutes went by before Sonny felt the urge to move closer to him. Sonny almost moved, but held back. He didn't want things to turn out how they did before, with the kiss. Sonny accidentally kicked his foot out in front of him hitting Will's calf, making Will turn his head toward him.

"Sorry." Sonny closed his eyes, trying to ignore the fact that his face was heating up in embarrassment. Sonny cried out when he felt something against his leg. He opened his eyes, startled to find that Will was laying on his side right up next to him.

"Didn't mean to scare you. I just…You seemed like you maybe wanted, something." Will whispered. Sonny could see the hesitance in Will's eyes, could tell that Will was going to pull away and go back to the other side of the bed. Sonny stopped him by pressing his leg more firmly against Will's, moving his head closer to Will's on the pillow they were now sharing.

"Thank you, Will."

"Sure, Sonny. I mean…"

"No. Seriously, thank you. For all of this: for the cabin, for the Sprite, for not freaking out too much about…the kiss. Just, I wouldn't want to be here with anyone else." Sonny bit his lip nervously, looking into Will's eyes once he felt Will's fingers lifting his chin.

"Anytime." Will said quietly, moving forward slowly to press a light kiss to the corner of Sonny's mouth. Without realizing it, Sonny made a keening noise at the feather-light touch, to which Will smirked. Will moved to press a similar kiss to the other side of Sonny's mouth. Another keen passed by Sonny's lips. "You're making it really hard for me to not take advantage of you right now. Those noises, the way you smell, the way you look…But if I did that, then I'd be just like him. And I'll never be like him, Sonny. Never. No matter what happens, if you leave this cabin and never wish to speak with me or see me again, or if we leave and become friends or even more, I will never do anything remotely close to what that bastard has done to you. I promise you that, Sonny."

Sonny tried fighting the few tears that seemed to come to the surface at Will's tender and steadfast words. He failed as he felt Will's lips descend on his cheek, kissing away the wetness that had previously flooded his vision. With one last kiss to Sonny's forehead, Will wrapped his arms around the man and pulled him closer. Sonny snuggled into the warmth that was Will, resting his head on the pillow right below Will's, forehead and hair touching Will's neck and collarbone. With only the resounding sounds of the two of them breathing, they fell asleep, a more peaceful sleep than Sonny had experienced in a long time.

It must've been at least a few hours, but Sonny woke up gasping for air. He felt as though he was drowning and he was only now coming up for air. He felt the bed shift and Will sat up next to him.

"Sonny?" Sonny took another heaving breath, trying to get more air into his lungs. He tried calming his racing heart, but the darkness wasn't helping.

"Sorry. Go back to sleep."

"No, what's wrong? Another nightmare?" Sonny just leaned over so his head was resting against Will's shoulder, making an affirming humming noise to answer Will's question. "You okay?" To that, Sonny didn't know what to say. He opened his mouth to answer, but closed it again when the words wouldn't come out. He wasn't okay, and he wasn't sure when things would ever be okay again. He knew he was kind of like a broken record right now, but that was how his life was going to be from now on. He would be terrified that Brian would find him, no matter what happened to the man. Speaking of, Sonny remembered Will's phone call with E.J. and was curious as to what was going on with the "progress" of Brian's ultimate doom.

"Will? Can I ask you something?"

"Of course. Anything."

"When you were on the phone earlier…With E.J. What's going on with Brian? Do you know what's happening yet?" Sonny was scared; scared to find out what was happening, but more scared of not finding out, of being left in the dark about everything going on.

"He just wanted to say that…he's having some trouble."

"Trouble? What do you mean?" Sonny's voice rose almost an octave, and Will could sense the fear in his voice. Will rubbed a soothing hand down Sonny's back to calm him before he went on. Will wasn't all that sure how much he should say, but he knew deep down that this involved Sonny the most and he ultimately deserved to know what was going on; no matter how much Will would've liked to protect him from all of it.

"Trouble getting him in jail."

"Jail?"

"Yes, jail. E.J. thought that people from Brian's past might…want to come forward to help out, but he was wrong. Nobody will talk about anything that happened while they were _with _Brian and he's served his time for all his other charges.

"Oh."

"Don't worry. We'll figure something out. If I have to find a way to kill the bastard with my own two hands, then so be it. I'll find a way to do just that. If it means protecting you, saving you from the likes of him, I'll do it. No questions asked." Sonny's heart swelled. Although the idea of a man dying because of him wasn't exactly heartwarming, the idea that Will would do anything for him made him extremely elated. He didn't know how in the world he stumbled into that coffeehouse and ran into this sweet, caring man that would drop his life at the snap of his fingers to help someone he just met. Sonny wasn't sure of much in this entire situation, but he was certain of one thing: that Will was officially the perfect man.

To be continued...


	17. Chapter 17

_Thought I'd post a few hours earlier than I normally would for all of you! I wanted to thank everyone for reading so far and for the wonderful comments/reviews I've gotten over the course of this story. I'm still working out some kinks in the way things will be proceeding so please bear with me :) ENJOY this chapter!_

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**Chapter 17**

Will had been honest with Sonny a couple of days ago about what was happening with Brian, but hadn't mentioned anything else since then. Sonny had been sleeping a lot of the time, and he vaguely heard Will talking, assumingly on the phone, with someone whom he couldn't place. It could've been E.J., Will's mother, or even Chad. Sonny couldn't tell, especially with him floating in and out of consciousness like he had been. Sonny wasn't aware before that he hadn't been getting much sleep, but now, without much else to do, sleeping felt wonderful. It felt like a luxury that Sonny had hardly ever experienced before, at least in a long while, and as much as he wished he could stay awake to spend more time with Will, he couldn't help but let his eyes flutter shut as he heard Will say his name in the other room.

Will had been making calls all day, trying to get answers as to what the hell was going on and why E.J.'s plan was taking so goddamn long. Will thought it would only be a couple of days, but it had almost been a week and he had only heard from E.J. once, and even then there hadn't been much, if any, progress. He was currently talking to his mother, telling her all about what was going on at the cabin. She was about the only person he felt comfortable talking to right now, which felt strange due to their somewhat difficult past. They never could get along that well. Will always felt upset when he had thought of his mother, or even when he tried talking to her. She was always jumping from guy to guy without a second thought. Without taking the time to think of Will. But now, she seemed to truly care about him and he was going to take advantage, no matter what their past relationship had been like.

He had just hung up with his mother when his phone rang. _E.J._ Will wasn't sure if it was good or bad, yet he answered the call anyway, not being able to let it ring once more.

"E.J. What the hell is going on?"

"William, hello to you to."

"Sorry, hi, just…Wha'ts going on? Have you dealt with Brian yet? We've been here for a long time."

"Well, William, I was waiting to see if the boy would come back. It seems as though Brian has skipped town, taken his stuff with him. He left about a week ago according to his roommate and hasn't been back."

"Okay. What does that mean exactly?"

"It means, I think it's time for you to bring yourself and Jackson back to Salem." Will gasped, not really expecting to be told that it was alright to come home this soon, even though he had hoped.

"When?"

"Tonight, tomorrow, whenever you both like. Just give your mother a call to let her know when you're on your way." With that, they said their goodbyes and Will hung up the phone. His heart was racing and he wasn't sure why. He could finally go home. Sonny could finally go home. Maybe Will was worried that once they were both back in Salem, things would go back to before. With them not talking, not seeing each other. They had, after all, just met a few weeks ago. Will was actually slightly terrified that once they reached the Salem limits, Sonny would go back to his life and Will would be forced to go back to his. Will would be forced into forgetting all about Sonny and the feelings he was developing. Or at least forced to try to forget Sonny, even though Will found forgetting this man very unlikely. Will would remember Sonny forever.

He turned on his heel, setting his phone on the kitchen counter, and walked into the bedroom where Sonny was sleeping. At first, Will thought Sonny was sleeping peacefully, but then he heard a whisper fall from Sonny's lips. It was Will's name again. Sonny's head turned to and fro, thrashing almost back and forth on the pillow beneath his head. Will couldn't watch anymore, knowing he needed to wake Sonny up. He needed to tell him the good news about Brian.

Will made his way to the bed in three long strides, placing a knee on the comforter and hovering over Sonny. He gently placed a hand on Sonny's arm, caressing it softly before saying Sonny's name. He needed to say it a few more times before Sonny's movements stopped and his eyes snapped open, but it worked.

"Hey, Son. You're okay, just another nightmare." Will said quietly, rubbing circles into Sonny's arm, still hovering over the man. Sonny sat up, making Will move back, shifting from hovering over Sonny's lean frame to kneeling on the bed next to him. Sonny's arms reached out to pull on Will's, pulling Will down and then they were both laying down, side by side. Will just let Sonny maneuver them so they were inches apart, Sonny's head resting on the pillow just touching Will's neck, arms wrapped around each other loosely. But then Sonny's arms tightened and Will followed suit.

"He found us again. But this time it was a gun." Sonny said.

"Shh, it's okay. He's gone. We're alone right now. And if you want…" Will paused, trying to force the words from his mouth. He had gotten very used to him and Sonny being alone together all day and night. "…we can go back to Salem. Today, even." Sonny's head moved, eyes meeting Will's. Sonny's eyes were wide and filled with confusion, but Will tried to keep his eyes free of emotion. At least free from the pain and heartache that threatened to cloud his vision.

"Salem?"

"Yes. E.J. called and Brian's gone."

"Gone? What do you mean by…gone?" Sonny whispered, suddenly fearful of the answer.

"He's left town apparently. Taken all his stuff with him and hasn't come back. It's been about a week. E.J. deemed it safe to come home." Sonny didn't know what to say. He should be happy to be going home, right? But in the pit of his stomach, Sonny was afraid that he wouldn't see Will again, not after they were back in the confines of their old "routines" of life.

"Okay. Can we just…I don't know, stay here for another day or something?" Sonny asked, not wanting to leave the confines of Will's comfort so soon.

"Whenever you want, Sonny. It's up to you."

"Thanks, Will." Sonny whispered, snuggling closer to Will, who squeezed his body slightly before his arms loosened again. Sonny felt so warm against Will and he never wanted it to end, but after a few minutes Sonny fell asleep.

Sonny woke up to the sun streaming through the curtains. He squinted his eyes, trying to adjust to the light and when he moved to get up, he was held back by Will's arms. He was still cocooned in Will's warmth, so he laid back down with a sigh. He figured he might as well take this in as much as he can, especially since he wouldn't have this in a few days. In a day, actually, because tonight he would have to sleep alone and he would have to deal with his nightmares alone if they came.

Sonny closed his eyes again, breathing in and out slowly, Will's scent filling his nostrils. The smell soothed him enough, succumbing him to sleep once again. He woke up again a while later, but he wasn't sure how long it had been. The only thing he knew was that his bladder needed to be emptied. Now. He hated to get out of Will's arms when this was the last time he'd be in them, but he unwrapped Will's arms from him and quietly creaked his way to the bathroom. Brushing his teeth and splashing cold water on his face, Sonny went back into the bedroom to see Will stretching on the bed. Sonny's breathing increased as he witnessed Will's bare feet, long legs covered in sweatpants, and his t-shirt covered midsection which rose to show the taut, tanned skin of his abdomen. Sonny tried to look away, but his eyes were glued to the sight. He especially didn't want to look away when Will moaned slightly, his back cracking as he stretched out further. Sonny's weight shifted slightly, making the floorboards creak underneath him, which made Will look toward the bathroom door to which Sonny had exited only a minute before. The smile on Will's face made one appear on Sonny's face, a small blush covering his cheeks at being caught basically ogling Will without his knowledge. Will didn't seem to mind.

"Mmm. Morning." Will said huskily.

"Hey." Sonny said, not knowing if his voice would allow him to say more in his current state. Will rolled off the bed and onto his feet, yawning and running his hand through his hair while Sonny started to walk to the door of the bedroom, wanting to get into the kitchen, but not without sneaking another peek at Will out of the corner of his eye. While Sonny was looking to see what was in the fridge, he heard Will using the bathroom and then heard the door open before he felt Will's presence in the kitchen behind him.

"Anything good in there?" Will asked, sitting in one of the bar stools, the wood floor squeaking when the chair legs scraped against it.

"Not really." Sonny said disappointedly, knowing that he was starving and they were basically out of all the good food, out of any food really. Sonny's stomach growled and Sonny placed an arm over his stomach, trying to quiet it, but to no avail.

"Maybe I can go out and pick something up. You can stay here and…I don't know, pack or something?" Will said. He felt bad that Sonny was so hungry and felt like he needed to get something into the man's stomach right away, or as soon as he could.

"Um, okay. I guess that'd be okay." Sonny said hesitantly. Will noticed his slight hesitation, but thought it'd be for the best that he go out alone. He didn't want Sonny with him, he just wanted him safe here. Will stood up, went to change and then told Sonny he'd be back and to call if he thought of anything else he needed. Sonny nodded, sitting on the couch with a glass of water as the door closed quietly behind Will.

Sonny was glad that he finally had time to think without having Will around to cloud his mind. On the other hand, Sonny liked having Will around and didn't really want to be alone. As much as he tried to believe that Brian was gone, out of Salem for good, there was no telling what would happen. Sonny told himself that if Brian wanted him, there wouldn't really be anything that could get in his way. That was just something that Sonny remembered hearing Brian say one night as he held him against the wall. He had told Sonny that he wanted him, that he would have him no matter what, and that nobody would stand in his way. Sonny shuddered at the memory. His hand moved up to touch his neck, remembering the way Brian's hands clamped around his neck, more than once, in order to get him to see that he was Brian's. But he wasn't. Sonny wasn't Brian's. He wasn't anyone's. He was his, all his own. Nobody could take away that freedom, yet it felt like Brian had. The things he'd done, the words he'd said, there was no taking that back. Sonny couldn't get the memories out of his mind right now, not while he was alone in the cabin, worried that Brian would actually come find him while Will was gone. He thought he heard a noise about an hour later, but it turned out to be Will. Will hadn't taken long to go to the store for food and more essentials (toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant, etc.). Just as Will set the bags on the counter, turning around to see if Sonny was all right, his arms were full once again. Sonny's arms were tight around Will, and then Will's arms held him back just as tightly. Will just wanted to comfort Sonny the way he needed.

"Will, you're back." Sonny muttered into Will's shoulder.

"Yes, Sonny. I'm right here. Did something happen while I was gone?" Will asked, concerned.

"No. I just, when I heard you come up, I thought for a second that…" Sonny paused, not wanting to say what he had been thinking about right before Will entered the cabin again.

"It's just me here. I should've maybe called to tell you I was on my way back. I didn't mean to startle you or anything." Will consoled him. Sonny nodded, Will feeling it against his shoulder.

"Next time, okay?" Sonny said quietly. Will was slightly taken aback, seeing as they would be leaving the cabin soon. Does that mean that Sonny wants to see Will more in the future, even when they're back in Salem? Will could only hope that was true.

To be continued…


	18. Chapter 18

Hi folks! I had training today for my TA job and forgot until now (9:33 pm) that it is WEDNESDAY! So, here I am: Updating the next chapter for my loyal readers, who I know LOVE Wednesdays with a passion. Problem is...That day will change. I'm going to start posting probably on weekends instead since classes start next Tuesday. This is the last full chapter I have written, and I think it's a good one to leave you with for a while...I'm going to try as hard as I can to write a few extra chapters over the next couple days so I can upload regularly, BUT with that said, the next update probably will be more like a week and a half away from today. I'm very sorry, and hope you folks aren't too mad at me. Hopefully this chapter makes up for the future slowness! Without further ado...ENJOY.

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**Chapter 18**

After Will unpacked the groceries, he made himself and Sonny pancakes and bacon, which they ate in front of the newly sprung fire Sonny built. After eating, Will went to shower and Sonny sat around listening to Will's iPod on the couch. He was lounging around, not hearing anything in his surroundings. That's why he jumped in terror when he felt someone take out one of the earbuds.

"Sorry. I tried calling out to you, but you had the music up too loud." Will looked upset that he had freaked him out yet again.

"I didn't realize I closed my eyes for so long. I think I drifted off a little bit."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with that. Just was gonna ask if you wanted to head back sometime today, or wait until tomorrow…" Will asked. In all honesty, Will was hoping for tomorrow, but he had forgotten that Sonny owned his own coffee shop that he was probably eager to get back to; probably more eager to get back to his own life.

"In a few hours maybe? I didn't really pack when you were gone. But I should probably check on the coffee house and all that. We've been gone, what? Almost 2 weeks now, right?"

"Close to that, yeah. Okay. Well, let's pack then and we can get going after lunch. How's that sound?"

"Good. Just…great." Sonny said, smiling shyly at Will. On the inside, Sonny was frowning, hoping that Will wouldn't forget about him once they got back to Salem.

They were both thinking the same thoughts, yet neither one was brave enough to talk about it. It was sort of left open-ended yesterday when Will mentioned that if Sonny never wanted to see him again, he would make-do. But Sonny hadn't said anything in response. Now that he's thinking about it, he should've said that's not what he wanted, not at all. He wanted to be friends with Will. From their first meeting, he knew that he wanted to be involved in Will's life; whether that be friends, lovers, or partners, it hadn't mattered. Sonny felt awkward mentioned any of that now, but he just hoped that he would be able to convey his feelings to Will once they were back. Hopefully Will would make an effort to see him, or at least wouldn't object if Sonny made an effort to see Will.

They finished packing somewhat quickly since Sonny's belongings weren't here, he had just been sharing clothes and toiletries with Will every day. Once they finished packing, Sonny decided it was only fair that he make lunch since Will made him breakfast. He made them grilled cheese sandwiches, which reminded him of his childhood. Surprisingly, eating one made him feel loads better than he had been recently, especially when Will had kept to himself or just after he came out of his nightmares. While eating at the table, Will ended up staring at Sonny as he licked his fingers clean, licking the greasiness from the grilled cheese from his fingers. Will bit his lip, feeling somewhat aroused by the actions going on across the table from him. Sonny looked up when he had his thumb in his mouth and noticed the darkened blue eyes of the man across from him. He let the digit fall from between his lips, hand landing in his lap.

"Will?"

"Damnit, Sonny."

"What?" Sonny asked. He could tell that something about Will had changed, but didn't want to make assumptions about what it was. But when Sonny saw Will close his eyes and bite his lip, he knew that his initial thoughts were right. Will was turned on. But Sonny could only wonder what made him this way? What had he done that is turning Will on?

"Don't look so confused Sonny. You know _exactly_ what you were doing" Will said huskily. Sonny's eyes widened, showing more confusion and surprise at Will's tone. Only a short instance did his words scare Sonny, but he just reminded himself that this was Will, not Brian.

"Will…I really. I don't know what I…" Sonny looked down, ashamed that he wasn't very eloquent with his words, especially now. Sonny heard the familiar scrape of the wooden legs across the floorboards before he felt Will's presence behind him. This startled him, especially when Will's hands came to fall on his shoulders. He tensed up and Will took his hands away when he felt it. Sonny relaxed and tried to tell himself that Brian was gone. It was working slightly, but it was still hard to really convince himself of that. He always felt that once things crossed that line between lovers and an abusive relationship, he didn't think things in his life would ever change back, would never be "normal" again. So far, he was being proven wrong.

"You're too hot for your own good, Sonny. You don't know what you did? Everything you do makes me hot and bothered." Will said with confidence. Will wasn't always a confident person, but being around Sonny he felt a very strange boost of confidence that he couldn't get from anywhere or anyone else.

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't you dare apologize for being you. Never do that. He might have made you do that…apologize for things, or made you change who you are. Not with me. I mean, not when I'm around…Just, no." Will said, confidence somewhat broken as he pieced together his words, a little flustered. Maybe it was because all of the blood that had previously been in his brain was currently moving southward.

"Why me, Will?"

"Why you? Is that a trick question?" Will asked.

"No…I'm not tricking you. Just, why are you hot and bothered around _me_?" Will came around to face Sonny, pulling a chair up to sit down, to be more comfortable. He wasn't planning to delve into all his "secrets" today, but he was going to start.

"Why you, Sonny?" Will repeated Sonny's question, voice quiet, soothing. "When I ran into you at my grandmother's pub, literally," Will laughed lowly, "I got so flustered. I wasn't "out" then…Nobody knew that I was gay. But I had this nagging urge to suddenly tell people, to let them know what I'd known but only truly realized 100 percent when I ran into you."

Sonny looked up at Will, suddenly realizing that Sonny influenced Will without even realizing it. Will moved his hands slowly toward Sonny's, taking them between his own, rubbing his thumbs over his knuckles softly.

"I never felt the way I felt when I first met you. Not about anyone. I was flustered and nervous as hell, but I couldn't stop talking to you. That's why I missed my first class…Not sure if you remember my grandma asking about that, but, I missed my first class because I wanted to get to know you more. And then I missed my next class because I ran over to meet up with my other grandma to tell her that I was gay. That I _am _gay. You were so easy-going and carefree. You were honest and flirty and just…perfection to me."

"I'm not perfect" Sonny whispered.

"You might not actually be perfect, but you were perfect to me. You _are_ perfect to me. No matter what you've done, or what's happened to you in the past, you're perfect just the way you are. And that probably sounds cheesy as hell, but I can't say it any other way." Will was looking at their hands, now interlocked together, Sonny ever slightly squeezing Will's hands to let him know he was paying attention still.

"That next time I saw you, at the restaurant…with Brian, I couldn't stop looking at you two, but I desparately felt like I needed to get over whatever feelings I had so quickly developed for you. Especially since you and…you two seemed rather cozy, not really caring about anyone else around you."

"It wasn't like that…not really." Sonny said through a shaky breath, trying to loosen his sweaty hands from between Will's, but Will held tight. "He had gotten jealous a lot lately, and I wasn't even sure of what we were. We hadn't met that long ago, and I thought we were just…having fun, you know?" Will made a sound, showing Sonny he understood. "But he started not wanting me to be out without him. He hadn't done anything. Not until…that night, after the bathroom thing. But he only followed me in there because he felt…threatened by you. He wanted to make sure that I didn't contact you or anything, so he sent a message…by hurting me."

"Sonny."

"Don't…I know what you're going to say. That's it's all because of you. And yea, you maybe set him off a little more, but he would've started the…abuse no matter if I had met you or not." Sonny finished, not having the energy to continue. Will's head fell, forehead resting on their interlocked hands which were still resting in Sonny's lap. Sonny could feel a soft kiss being placed on his right hand, then one on his left. He sighed at the contact, but felt bad once he felt wetness on his hands. He knew now, Will was crying. Sonny felt that he should be the one crying, and couldn't understand exactly why Will was. He felt tears spring to his eyes, feeling oddly good that Will was crying because of what was happening to him. That, in turn, just made him feel bad again. He shouldn't feel good about someone crying, especially not Will. Not when he felt so strongly about him.

"Will…" Sonny said, trying to get Will to move his head, trying to move his hands, but Will only let one of them go. Sonny flexed his hand a few times, trying to regain some of the feeling before he ran his hand through Will's hair. "Shh, Will, it's okay. I'm fine. You're fine. Everything's fine. You shouldn't be crying over something as stupid as me." Those words were what brought Will's head up, red-rimmed eyes looking into Sonny's brown ones.

"Something as stupid as you? How can you say that? You don't…Why can't you see how precious you are? Especially to me. Sonny…I'm falling for you. So please don't insult me by calling the person that I love, stupid. Please, don't."

Their eyes were locked on one another for what seemed like hours. In reality it was a long few minutes. Sonny kept blinking, not knowing what to say. Brian never told Sonny he loved him. Never. And he knew he felt something for Will, but he wasn't really sure what "love" was supposed to feel like.

"You love me." Sonny said dumbly. Will smiled, not knowing what else to say, what else to do. He wanted to kiss Sonny right now, but wasn't sure if Sonny would be okay with that.

"I do." Will replied, even though he hadn't really needed to. Now that his feelings were out, he felt on top of the world. He just wanted to scream his love from the rooftop, for hours on end. He didn't expect Sonny to say anything back, seeing as they'd known each other for less than a month.

"Don't move." Sonny whispered, making Will's face scrunch up slightly in confusion. Sonny's hand gripped Will's head, locks of blonde hair between his fingers. He moved himself closer to Will, hand pulling Will's head closer to his own. Sonny let himself stop his hand when they were inches apart. Will's tongue flicked out to lick his lips, Sonny's eyes following the movement. Their breathes intermingled for a while, Sonny's eyes focused solely on Will's pink lips. Sonny moved their head even closer before Will's voice spoke to him again.

"Wait. We don't have to do this just because I said…"

"Not doing it because of that. Well, I am, but also because I want to. Do you want to?" Will groaned, hearing Sonny ask basically for his permission to kiss him was extremely thoughtful, and it made him fall even harder for Sonny.

"Of course I want to. Just want you to be sure. Want you to be ready. I don't want to rush anything with you."

"Never rushing, not with you." Sonny's other hand came up to cup Will's cheek, thumb brushing his cheekbone softly. Will's eyes closed at the feelings of Sonny's hands on him, both on his face and in his hair. Finally, Sonny brought his lips to Will's, lightly testing the waters. This kiss was different than the first kiss he had with Will, mostly because Will started kissing him back immediately. Sonny almost sighed at the feeling. This kiss was almost magical. Scratch that, it _was_ magical. Their lips parted, both pairs of eyes opening to look for any regret in the other person's eyes, but their was nothing. Nothing but pure feeling and emotion. Will's hand came up to circle around Sonny's wrist, of the hand that was still cupping his cheek. Will felt amazing. This kiss was purely perfection. He didn't want to push anything, but he wanted to kiss Sonny again, at least one more time before they went back to Salem. Without having to wait too long, he was met with another kiss from Sonny. Will went along with it, wrapping his other arm around Sonny's body so their bodies were that much closer. When they parted again, both boys smiled shyly, both happy that they were finally feeling good in the arms of another person.

"Not that I want this to stop, but we should probably get heading back to Salem soon." Will said slightly breathless.

"Okay." Sonny replied. Will caressed Sonny's back through his t-shirt, feeling the muscles beneath his hand, making Will want Sonny even more. Will pulled away, Sonny's hands falling from their previous positions. He moved away from the table, standing up and heading to the bedroom to make sure that everything was packed. Sonny stayed sitting at the kitchen table, running his hands through his hair, a smile still on his face. He hasn't felt this good in a long time and he hoped that feeling wasn't going away anytime soon.

Will came back a few minutes later. He walked up to Sonny who was still sitting at the kitchen table, a goofy smile on his face. He bent down to place a short kiss on Sonny's cheek, breaking Sonny out of his thoughts. Sonny stood up suddenly, throwing an arm around Will's neck and pulling him into his own body. Their lips met with a fiery heat this time, something that hadn't been present before. Sonny's tongue snaked out of his mouth to lick hotly at Will's lower lip, wanting access to Will's mouth for the first time. Will only seemed to hesitate for a second before his mouth opened, head tilting further to one side, and Sonny's tongue slid into Will's mouth, tongues scraping against each other. They both moaned at the feeling, the first time their tongues danced with one another, hopefully the first time of many. Sonny sucked Will's tongue into his mouth, Will moaning louder at the suction. They needed air a minute later, pulling away from each other but resting their foreheads together. They just breathed heavily into each other's mouths for a while.

"I will never get tired of doing that." Will said, quickly placing another burning kiss to Sonny's lips.

To be continued…


	19. Chapter 19

_Hello lovely readers! I thought I would get an update in today before the week starts, even though it's not super long. The next one will come out next Sunday since I'm getting close to finishing writing chapter 20! Thanks for sticking around and being patient with me. ENJOY! xx_

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**Chapter 19**

They had been driving for about an hour before they stopped for food. They went into a small diner where they ordered burgers and fries, eating slowly to prolong their time alone together. Sonny stood up after he was finished, telling Will he was going to use the restroom before they hit the road again. When he was walking back to the table, he passed a table of younger guys hanging out. He did a double take, looking back at the table of boys because he could swear that he had seen…Sonny shook his head, there was no way it was him. He went back to Will and they left, going back to the car to hit the road once more. When they finally reached Salem, onl hour car ride, Will drove to Sonny's apartment with Sonny's guidance. It was a nice building, and living above only a couple blocks from the coffee house was a blessing sometimes. Sonny liked living there even though the pricing was kind of steep. He just worked harder to pay for it. He had a lot saved up, too, but he was always cautious when it came to money and he always liked to have a little stockpile set aside in case of an emergency.

"Well, this is me…" Sonny said, suddenly feeling nervous and uncomfortable in this small space, alone with Will. He unbuckled his seatbelt, moving to open his car door when he felt a gentle hand on his arm. He turned his head back around to face Will.

"I know this wasn't a very…conventional vacation? But I'm glad that I was able to spend more time with you." Will said sweetly.

"No…it wasn't exactly a "vacation". But I at least had a fine time with you, too." Sonny replied, smiling shyly at the driver, still gripping his arm, but in a way that was nothing but soft and kind.

"Well…I'll see you around hopefully then, Sonny?" Will said tentatively, not wanting to push himself on the man he had fallen for. As much as Will wanted to kiss Sonny, he wanted Sonny to kiss him first this time. They had kissed quite a bit this morning, but maybe Sonny had changed his mind since then. Sonny stepped out of the car briefly before sticking his upper body back in. He placed one hand on the dashboard, another on the back of Will's seat before he leaned toward Will, kissing him on the lips quickly. He smiled when he pulled back.

"Thank you, Will. Seriously. For everything." Sonny kissed Will on the cheek softly before exiting the car fully and walking toward his apartment.

Once inside, he leaned against the door, running a hand through his hair. He sighed, thinking that nothing could go wrong, not now that he was kissing Will, spending more time with Will, and falling in love with Will every extra minute he hung out with him.

After Will made sure Sonny got into his apartment building okay, he pulled away from the curb, heading to the pub to grab coffee before he was going to see his mom. He wanted to go thank her for being supportive of him and his desire to help Sonny out.

When he made it to his mother's place, she welcomed him with open arms, asking about how both he and Sonny were doing, especially since she last spoke with him. They chatted for a while before Will's phone buzzed. He looked at it, seeing a text from Sonny. A smile lit up Will's face at Sonny's name on his screen and his mom could tell the time he was away had done something to him, something that possibly turned his world upside down.

Will got done chatting with his mom after a little while, then he wanted to talk to E.J. Sami told Will that E.J. was meeting with a client until 4 pm and then would probably we heading back to his house. Will decided to text E.J., letting him know that he'd be waiting at the pub and would head over to speak with E.J. when he was told by E.J. that he was free.

He had a couple hours before he could speak with E.J., so he decided to go for a walk around the park before heading back to the pub. He spent an hour walking through the park, people watching only a little bit. For the most part, he was in his own little world. The main thing he was thinking about was Sonny. He couldn't wait to see him again, and he just saw him 3 hours ago. He was a little scared that he was getting attached, too much too soon. He started worrying more and more about whether or not this attachment would end up with a happy ending, or with him getting his heart broken for the first time. He tried not thinking about it, but it was hard not to when he was alone with nature; nothing to stop the thoughts from running rampant.

He lost track of time until his phone rang. He picked it up and as expected, E.J. was calling. He was done with his meeting and heading home. Will said he'd meet him as soon as he could get over there. Once he hung up, Will looked at his watch and saw that it was 4:07 pm. He couldn't believe how long he had been out in the park, just thinking and wandering around.

Once he talked to E.J., he hoped he would feel better. But he didn't. He felt okay, but not as great as he was hoping he'd feel. E.J. said that Brian had left town, and although it seemed like he wasn't coming back, there was no way to tell. Will started yelling, asking E.J. why he told them to come back then if he thought there was even a small possibility that Brian was still around. E.J. could only say that him and Sonny couldn't miss out on their lives because of some sick bastard. Will couldn't help but agree. Even though he didn't want to agree, Will knew that Sonny couldn't live his life being afraid, even if that's how he had lived the past few weeks, the past couple of months. E.J. promised Sonny would be watched over, Brian would be looked out for. None of them would get hurt. If Sonny was in danger, Will would need to take him away again. Basically, nothing was for certain, they needed to just take one day at a time.

When Will left E.J., it was raining outside, wind blowing. His clothes were soaked within seconds of being outside. He jumped into his car after the short sprint from the house. Sitting in his car he was in shock, or so it seemed. Brian wasn't necessarily _gone._ Not the way he hoped; not the way he made it seem like to Sonny when he said they could come back to Salem. Now what was he supposed to do? Was he supposed to tell Sonny that Brian could come back at any time really? He didn't want to do that. He didn't want to scare Sonny, didn't want to make him even more afraid to go through his routine each day, like he had been before going away to Horton cabin. He pulled out his phone, tempted to call Sonny but feeling like he should just give him a little space. They had been together 24/7 for the past couple weeks anyway; Sonny deserved a little time by himself. What Will didn't know was that Sonny was holding his phone in his hand too, contemplating calling Will and asking him to come over.

Sonny had been sitting at home. He had walked to the coffeehouse a while after Will dropped him off and everything was fine. Chad had been very helpful and had taken care of everything. Neil had apparently contacted him and let him know kind of what was going on. Only the details that were needed, but basically Chad needed to take care of Common Grounds for a while, for Sonny. Chad was happy to do it. Sonny always did so much for other people, it was time, Chad felt, to give something back to Sonny. Sonny hadn't stayed long at the coffeehouse. He went home and basically took a shower, ate something, and then sat down on his couch. He wasn't sure what to do. He had spent the better parts of the last couple weeks with Will. Or at least, with Will somewhere nearby. Now he was alone. There was nobody close by, and that terrified him. It had been a few hours, and every hour he would look at his phone and wonder what Will was doing. Was he out with friends, happy to finally have his life back? Was he sitting at home not doing much of anything? Sonny couldn't imagine what Will was doing since he didn't know him that well aside from the big things he'd learned about him; both from that first day at the pub and the conversations at the cabin.

Now, Sonny was thumbing through his contacts, desperately trying to stave off the urge to click on Will's name. He kept hearing noises outside, and he feared for what was out there. He knew though, what with the storm that had started outside, that it was most likely just the wind and the rain and the thunder and all that. But Sonny still felt a desire to cuddle up with Will. He sighed, letting his head fall back to rest on the back of the couch. He really needed Will right now. It felt weird to need someone like this; he had always been a very independent person. With his past boyfriends, he never felt a strong desire to be with them all the time, but right now, he wanted to be with Will. If only he could work up the courage to call him, to text him just let him know that he was being thought of, in some way. Sonny stared at the picture of Will in his phonebook for a long while, feeling something strange in the pit of his stomach. He wasn't sure what it was; if it was from something he heard outside, or if it was from the nagging feeling that he had been away from Will for far too long for his own comfort. He finally gave in, opting to text the man he couldn't stop thinking about.

**Hey Will.**

_Sonny, U OK?_

**Um, no. Not rly. But it's fine, I guess.**

_Tell me what I can do to help. What's wrong?_

**It's nothing…**

_Sonny. If U need something, I'm here. Tell me._

**I don't want to be a burden.**

_No burden. Forget it. I'm on my way to urs. :)_

Sonny put his phone down after receiving Will's text. He felt bad, hoped that Will hadn't been doing anything important. He felt like he should respond, tell Will that he didn't need to rush over, and he would be okay. But for some reason, he couldn't get his fingers to glide across the screen to type the message. He smiled a little at the emoticon Will sent. Will was coming. Will was coming to see him, and in just a little bit, Sonny would feel safe all over again.

To be continued...


	20. Chapter 20

_Here's the next chapter! ENJOY. xx_

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**Chapter 20**

20 minutes later, Sonny heard a knocking at his door. He slowly, yet quickly at the same time, made his way to the door. Being safe, he checked the peephole, and it was Will. Thank god, Sonny thought to himself. He didn't even know why he was so happy to see him, but he just felt a weight lifted from his shoulders now that Will was standing outside his apartment. He unlocked and opened the door to a soaking wet Will. The sight in front of him made Sonny's knees weak slightly, made his mouth water and his heart rate speed up. Will smiled at him before Sonny engulfed him in a tight hug. Will embraced Sonny, returning the hug and rubbing his back gently.

"Hey, you said everything wasn't okay. What's wrong?" Will said quietly. Sonny hugged tighter for a second before letting go completely, he stepped back into his apartment, inviting Will in with his eyes and a tilt of his head. Will entered the apartment and Sonny closed the door behind him. Sonny whimpered as a rumble of thunder and a crack of lightning hit the skies outside. Will's face lit up in recognition. He remembered the time at the cabin where Sonny had become upset because of a storm. Sonny felt like an idiot, getting Will to come over basically just because of his irrational fear of rainstorms. The small sympathetic smile on Will's face kind of made Sonny feel like even more of a coward.

"Didn't want to be alone?" Sonny nodded sheepishly, biting his lip, looking down at the ground. He kicked his foot lightly at the carpeting. He jumped slightly when Will's arms reached out to pull him closer. Sonny shuffled as close as he could, feeling much better already at being in Will's arms. Sonny felt Will kiss his temple and Sonny burrowed further into Will's arms. "Could've just called me. Would've come straight over if I had known. I thought maybe you'd want some time to yourself. You know, time without me." Will said, seeing Sonny look up at him the next minute with big brown eyes that he could get lost in.

"Didn't want to burden you, Will. But I…just want to spend…more time with you." Sonny whispered. Will tightened his arms; head coming to rest on top of Sonny's. Sonny felt loads better than he did just 30 minutes ago. Will was the one to make him feel less scared, to feel like a more courageous person.

They had hugged for a while, the storm dying down slightly around them as the minutes ticked by. Sonny was thankful for Will. He couldn't be thankful enough for Will's compassion; for him to come over when he didn't even know what was wrong. Just like it was second nature to him, he loved that. Thinking about that just made Sonny so happy. Once the rain was lightly fluttering against the windows, Sonny pulled back intending to thank Will with kind words. Instead, a soft pair of lips descended upon his own. He sighed into the kiss, feeling better than before, again. Will just did that to him. Sonny would bet money on it that Will would have this effect on anyone. That was where Sonny's thoughts grew dangerous. These weren't the types of thoughts Sonny should be having. He tried focusing on the pressure of Will's lips. It worked until Will pulled away. Will kissed Sonny's cheek, waiting to see what Sonny would say about the storm, about them, or about anything really. Will wondered what was going to happen next, at least next on the "agenda" for tonight.

Sonny finally lets him know that he is tired and he should sleep; he has to work in the morning. Will understands completely yet feels weird about leaving. He asks a couple times if Sonny wants him to stay.

"You should be able to sleep in your own bed tonight Will. I appreciate you coming over though. I'm just gonna crash now." Sonny said. He kind of wanted Will to stay but knew that he would be out from exhaustion only a few minutes after he laid down. He didn't want Will to have to sleep over when he wasn't going to be doing any sort of entertaining tonight.

"You sure? I don't mind staying the night with you…you know that, don't you?" Will asked hesitantly. It was true. Will really didn't mind spending the night with Sonny; especially if that's what Sonny wanted, what Sonny needed. Sonny just nods at Will, eyes heavily lidded from his state of exhaustion. Will's smiles at how adorable Sonny is right now. He looks so tired, yet is still the most beautiful person he's ever seen.

"If you're sure…" Will says, still hesitant to leave, worried the storm will start again later and Sonny would need him again.

"I'll be fine, Will. Please, go home. Get some sleep." Sonny says. Will nods, turning toward the door to leave. A gentle hand stops him. He turns back to see Sonny standing in front of him. Sonny leans up to give Will a soft kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you for coming." Will smiles at Sonny.

"Anytime. Really…Any time you need me. I'll be here." Will says to Sonny. They both smile at each other and Will leaves without another word shared between them. Sonny does just as he said he was going to do. He goes into his room and gets ready to sleep. He gets under the covers of his bed, feeling the cool sheets beneath his bare feet and legs. He sighs when his head hits the pillow. The next time his eyes open, the sun is peeking through the curtains on the wall next to his bed.

As Sonny wakes up, he remembers the events of last night. He sighs, thankful that Will had been so sweet last night. Sonny wouldn't have been able to sleep as well as he did if Will hadn't been there before he went to sleep. Will's face was the last thing in his mind as he laid down to sleep.

He got up, showered, and got dressed before he checked his phone. He had a text from Will.

_Call me when you get up. J Good morning._

Sonny's heart fluttered at the message. He smiled to himself as he clicked on Will's number. He only had to wait 2 rings before he heard Will's voice.

"Hey you. How'd you sleep?"

"Morning. I slept pretty well actually" Sonny replied.

"I'm glad."

"Thank you again for last night. You didn't have to do that…come over, I mean." Sonny said.

"I wanted to. There's really no need to thank me."

"Still, Will…"

"Just stop, okay? What's your schedule look like today?"

"I have work soon and then I'm just going to hang out tonight I guess."

"What time do you get off?" Will asked through the phone.

"Five, I think."

"Can I come see you?" Will asked somewhat hesitantly. Sonny's heart started to race.

"Um, yeah, Will. It's a…a free country," Sonny laughed softly, trying to get over his fast heart rate. He felt good that Will wanted to see him still after they were back in Salem.

"Yeah, I know. But I kind of pushed myself on you last night, so if you don't want to see me then…I want you to be able to tell me."

"Will…" Sonny sighed. He really wished he was talking to Will face-to-face about this. "Can we talk when I see you later?"

"Oh, um. Sure, yeah. Whatever you want." Will replied quickly.

"It's not that I don't want to talk to you right now, it's just that I need to leave for work so…Plus, I want to talk to you in person, okay?"

"Okay, Sonny. I'll see you tonight." Will said. They said their goodbyes and both hung up. Sonny put his phone in his pocket before grabbing his keys and wallet, then heading out the door. When he gets to the coffeehouse, he goes through his opening routine and is ready for the day. He gets through the morning rush and lunch rush and he feels like he was never gone. A couple of the regulars asked him if everything was okay, since they hadn't seen him in a while. He just said that he was dealing with some family stuff. That wasn't really the truth though, obviously.

He kept glancing at the clock after 3 pm. He was getting anxious. He wasn't sure if Will would come in before he was off or if he would pop in right at 5. His co-worker asked him if he okay and he just said he was getting used to the long days again. The coffeehouse got busy again around 4 o'clock and he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach while he was behind the counter: a bad one. He looked around the shop more, seemingly more anxious and irritated, maybe even a little skittish. He pushed the feelings aside, not really thinking anything of them. He hadn't been at work in a while and the last time he was, he had always been worried that Brian would pop up at any moment. But now he was gone. At least he hoped he was. Someone let him know the sugar and creamer were running low, so he went to fill them. As he was finishing, he felt a body behind him and he tensed up. He nearly panicked when a hand reached out and landed on his shoulder. He relaxed after he heard the person's voice.

"Geez, Sonny. I'm sorry! I shouldn't have snuck up on you like this."

Sonny turned around to face his mother.

"It's okay mom. No harm, no foul. Just surprised me is all."

"Is everything okay? I came in a couple times but Chad was always here. He said you were out of town with a friend."

"Yeah, I just…I decided to get away for a while."

"Nothing wrong with that. Though it would've been nice if I had known. I was worried about you…" Adrienne said.

"No need to worry…"

"But after…"

"Don't. I don't want to talk about it."

"I just want to know that you're okay, baby."

"I am…for now."

"Well, who did you go out of town with?" His mother questioned him.

"Um, it was Will."

"Will? I'm not sure I know a…" She was cut off before she could finish.

"Hey, Sonny. Will said to tell you he was waiting for you," one of the other baristas told him.

"Thanks, Sarah." Sonny looked past his mom to see Will sitting at the counter. Sonny raised a hand in a half wave, and Will mimicked the movement. Adrienne turned, glancing behind her to see who this "Will" person was. She scowled when she saw him.

"You mean Will Horton?" Sonny nodded, eyes widening a little at his mother's tone. "Wait, is he the one who did that to you? He is, isn't he?" She turned, walking to Will. Sonny jumped into action just as she was raising her hand. Sonny knew that if he had waited another second, she would've slapped Will: hard. There was a fire in her eyes and Sonny was kind of terrified.

"Mom, stop! It wasn't him!" Sonny exclaimed, looking pleadingly at his mother before looking at Will. His face was full of confusion. "I'm sorry, Will. Mom, you need to leave. Now."

"Sonny, I was…" his mother started to say.

"I know what you were about to do, okay? Will is the one who was helping me get through stuff…_Is_ helping me." Sonny said.

"Sonny, but his mother his…" Adrienne started, seeming to be ignoring Will's presence.

"Hi Mrs. Kiriakis. I don't mean to interrupt but you are talking about my mother now. You must know her, and yes she's had a bit of a past. But I am not my mother, and I am so glad that I've been fortunate enough to spend time with your son." Will said passionately. "Maybe I should be the one to leave. I'll call you later, Sonny." Will stood up, grabbing his coffee and moving to leave. Sonny grabbed his wrist, latching on and squeezing tightly.

"No." Will turned back at Sonny's pained, quiet voice.

"It's fine, I'll see you later."

"Please Will. Please don't leave." Sonny pleaded with him. He had only been away from Will for 24 hours or so and he had missed him all day. He wanted to know that he was still there for him. But if he left, Sonny feared again, that he wouldn't return. Will, sensing Sonny's pleading, pulled him into a hug. Sonny wrapped his arms tightly around Will's torso, Will doing the same but a little more loosely.

"I don't want to make your mother any more angry than she already seems to be. I'll go wait at your apartment, yeah? You come home when you're done talking to her. I'll be waiting for you. However long it takes" Will whispered so only Sonny could hear him. Sonny pulled away to look at him briefly.

"Promise?" Sonny whispered. Their eyes locked, blue meeting brown.

"I promise" Will said, eyes bright with the promise he just voiced. Will kissed Sonny's cheek gently before releasing his hold on the man. Sonny squeezed him close again once more before letting go.

"Mrs. Kiriakis." Will nodded to her before leaving, heading straight to Sonny's apartment, not even stopping to pass go.

"Mom, I have to finish up with work. Please, can we just talk another time?" Sonny asked tiredly.

"Sure, sweetie." Adrienne said, a little flabbergasted at the "show" she just witnessed. "I'll, um, I'm sorry for making you upset, Sonny."

"It's fine." Sonny said, though not really meaning it. Adrienne took his hand her hers and squeezed it lovingly before leaving.

Now Sonny just had 30 minutes until he could basically run home and see Will.

He just knew the next 30 minutes were going to drag on and on.

To be continued . . .


	21. Chapter 21

_Sorry for the shorter chapter...Be happy that it wasn't half of this, since it was before. I decided to add more instead of starting the new chapter. Anyway, please ENJOY. xx_

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**Chapter 21**

Will had been sitting outside of Sonny's apartment door for what seemed like hours. It had only really been an hour, but with the look Sonny had given him and the quiet pleading words he spoke, Will just wanted to see him again. He was close to calling Sonny, slightly worried that something had happened to him, when Sonny came bounding up the steps. Will took in his appearance quickly to make sure he was okay. Will slid his back up the wall so he was standing, leaning against the wall next to Sonny's apartment door.

"Hey. I was starting to…" Will said before the breath was nearly knocked out of him. He was suddenly engulfed in a tight embrace to which he gladly reciprocated. His back knocked into the wall behind him, but all he could feel was Sonny. Sonny's arms were wrapped around his neck, his head falling to the crook of his neck. He could feel Sonny shaking, a tell-tale sign that something was not right.

"What's wrong? You're not hurt are you?" Sonny didn't say anything back, didn't even move. He just kept him arms around Will, holding on for what seemed like dear life. "Look at me. I need to see that you're okay." Sonny whimpered against his neck and he feared for the worst. But Sonny looked fine, physically at least. He wasn't crying, just shaking like he had been stuck in a blizzard with no protection, no coat, no nothing. Will's hands cupped Sonny's cheeks, thumbs rubbing against his jaw.

"Sonny. Baby, you're scaring me" Will said.

"I saw him." Sonny whispered. Will could swear his heart stopped.

"What?"

"I saw him. In Horton Town Square. While I was walking home…at least, I think it was him…" Sonny broke off, feeling slightly embarrassed for barreling in the way he did.

"You think you saw…Brian?" Will choked out. Sonny nodded at him. "But you aren't sure?"

"No. I'm not sure. It looked so much like him though, Will. And I…I'm just scared."

"Shh, it's okay to be scared." Will said, rubbing a hand down Sonny's back, the other still thumbing at his jaw line. "I'll call my grandpa, or EJ or something. Let's just get you inside, okay? Where are your keys?"

"Pocket."

"Which pocket?" Will couldn't help but laugh. Sonny reluctantly let go of Will. He fished his keys out of the front pocket of his jeans. He blushed as he tried putting the key into the lock. He felt Will's hand cover his own and he relaxed slightly. He allowed Will to take over, letting him put the key in the lock as Sonny leaned back against Will's chest. Once the lock was undone, Will pushed the door open with his foot and wrapped arm around Sonny's body. They walked into the apartment with a little push from Will.

The door was still open and Will moved, trying to close it, but he couldn't break away from Sonny's arms.

"Mm." Sonny protested.

"Let me just close the door, Sonny." Will moved from Sonny's arms, but Sonny gripped his wrist tightly. Will stretched out and shut the door before Sonny pulled him toward him once again.

"Sonny. You're home, okay? He can't get to you here, not even if he was back in Salem." Sonny's cheeks heated at Will's words. Letting Will go, Sonny wrapped his own arms around himself, trying to protect himself from any harm that could come to him. Will immediately felt bad. Now Sonny was pulling away from him. He felt a twisting in his stomach from guilt. He saw Sonny take a minute to figure something out in his head, and Will could almost hear the cogs turning in Sonny's mind. Then Sonny walked to the bed before climbing under the covers fully clothed. Sonny buried his head in the pillow and Will felt even worse when he heard a choked sob from beneath the sheets. He slipped his coat and shoes off, walked to the bed and hesitated before slipping beneath the covers with Sonny. He felt the bed shaking and he wanted to pull Sonny into his arms, but he felt like it would overstep some line that had just been drawn, especially now that he had clearly upset Sonny in one way or another. He was the reason he was crying right now.

"Sonny, I'm sorry." Will whispered. "I didn't want to make you upset. I don't…please don't cry." Will could feel the bed's shaking lessen before stopping. He could hear Sonny sniffling and a whimper slipping out every few breaths. A minute later, Sonny's red and puffy chocolate eyes met Will's blue eyes.

"You think I'm upset because of you?" Sonny whispered. Will didn't know what to think, what to say. Hadn't Sonny gotten upset because of what he had said?

"I basically told you that you would be fine, that you could stand to be alone, and then you pulled away from me…" Will said hesitantly.

"I'm not upset because of you, Will. Please believe that. You don't…" Sonny closed his eyes, hands turning into fists and he pressed them into his closed eyes. Will reached over without hesitation to pull his fists away, not wanting Sonny to hurt himself.

"Hey. It's fine. You don't need to tell me anything. Just don't hurt yourself. And I'm here if you need me" Will whispered into the silence. "I'll just go, maybe?" Sonny's eyes fluttered open and locked onto Will's. Immediately, Will could sense the desperation in the man's eyes across from him. "…Or I'll just go sit on the couch and check my email or something." Will saw the desperation turn into relief. He stood up, moving with assurance to the couch on the other side of the apartment. He sat down and pulled out his phone, hoping to distract himself, but he kept thinking about Brian. He texted EJ, telling him about what Sonny saw, or thought he saw and then wiped a hand down his face when he yawned. He hadn't been this tired just a little bit ago. So he knew he was stressed out and overwhelmed right now. He always felt utterly exhausted when he felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. He must've fallen asleep because he woke up when he felt someone sitting next to him. Sonny. Will's eyes landed on the beautiful mess of a man who was now next to him.

"Sorry. You can sleep some more, I just…" Sonny said.

"It's okay. I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"I'm…" Sonny started before breaking off. "I'm glad you stayed."

"Me, too" Will replied, reaching out to touch Sonny's cheek softly with a couple of fingers. "What time is it?"

"Almost 10:30."

"Oh…I didn't mean to sleep so long."

"Me neither. But…"

"Yeah?" Will asked.

"I don't want to be…clingy or annoying or anything, but" Sonny looked down nervously.

"What? You'd never be annoying" Will tells him sweetly.

"Will you stay the tonight? I mean, the rest of the night?" Sonny blushed, knowing that Will had already been here for almost 6 hours. "I wont ask you for anything else ever again…I'm just worried about being alone with what happened tonight. What I think happened…"

"You could ask me for anything and I'd do whatever I had to do in order to get it for you. So, yes, I'll stay," Will said. Sonny swallowed through the lump in his throat. Will was honestly perfect, and Will thought Sonny was perfect. Yet they both didn't want to push the other. They were both nervous and scared of their newfound friendship, possible relationship, that they were somewhat pushing each other away. At the same time, they wanted to get closer, had things they felt they needed from the other that they couldn't help but ask for.

Sonny stood up after while, feeling like he wanted to just lay down. Reaching out toward Will, Sonny stopped his hand in midair. He pulled it back just as quickly and he looked down at the ground. A soft caress was felt against the hand he dropped, causing him to look up cautiously.

"You sure?" Will asked, already sensing what Sonny wanted. Sonny bit his lip in hesitation. Still looking at the ground, he could feel Will's eyes burning into him.

"Sonny?" Will slid his thumb across the back of Sonny's hand as he spoke.

"Yes?" Sonny said, inflection causing it to sound like a question.

"Are you sure that...?" Will started, thinking Sonny wanted him to repeat his previous question.

"I meant, yes. Please, Will. I want you with me." Sonny looked up once he finished speaking. He smiled at Will slightly, reaching his hand out again. Will took it, standing and following Sonny to the bed. They both got under the covers before talking again.

"Will…I don't want to be this person. This man who is scared to sleep alone at night. Who freezes up when someone sneaks up behind me unannounced. I'm sick of feeling like a needy child, whining and getting attached to things…to you." Sonny said, upset.

"Wait. Where is this coming from? You're not…attached to me." Will said, confused.

"I am. I'm so fucking dependent on you right now and I hate it. I just want my life back."

Will didn't know what to say, so he stayed quiet. He stared, couldn't tear his eyes away from Sonny's face, even though Sonny's eyes were downcast. When Sonny's eyes finally landed on Will's, they both froze. Sonny finally realized what he said and Will still didn't know how he was supposed to react.

"I didn't mean it like it sounded." Sonny tried reasoning.

"It's okay. I get it." Will said in a clipped tone. Will closed his eyes and shifted so he was lying with his back to Sonny. Right before he fell asleep, he felt a warm body, Sonny's body, pressing against his back.

"I do want my life back, but if I have to sacrifice you to get it…I don't think I could do that."

With Sonny's words echoing in both of their minds, they drifted off into dreamland.

To be continued . . .


	22. Chapter 22

_To my lovely readers: Yes, this chapter is super short (not even 1,000 words), and is maybe not my finest work...But I wanted to get something out to you all, seeing as it is now 11pm on Sunday night. The next chapter is something that I don't want to screw around with so if it's not perfect, or if I don't have enough time to work on it by next Sunday, there may not be an update. This story is also coming close to being done. Not sure how many more chapters it will be, but there is no way it'll go past 30. With that said, I appreciate the awesome comments/feedback I've gotten and I seriously LOVE every single one you that reads, no matter if you leave a review or not. Hopefully you like this chapter even though it's short and not that great, haha. So without further ado: ENJOY. xx_

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**Chapter 22**

The next morning was awkward waking up next to each other. Will woke up first, almost forgetting where he was, but a quiet whimper quickly reminded him. With that one sound, Will knew that Sonny was having some sort of nightmare. A hand reached out to wake him, but the words Sonny spoke the night before came rushing back. In a way, Will was upset by his words; on another hand he was angry. He had a right to be, he thought. After all, Sonny basically said he wished he had never met Will. That's definitely something to be both upset and angry about.

Will didn't know whether he wanted to wake Sonny up. His name coming as a cry from those lips though made the decision for him. He rubbed his hand along Sonny's shoulder, not wanting to startle him awake.

"Hey, wake up." Sonny woke almost instantly. Will saw something like fear and hope in his brown eyes. It seemed as though he wanted to reach out for Will, but he didn't. They lay there, just staring at each other. After a moment, Sonny spoke.

"Sorry." Sonny stood up from his spot in bed after speaking only one word and walked into the bathroom. Will was left alone once again. He stood up, grabbed his phone and checked his messages. Nothing required his immediate attention. When Sonny came out of the bathroom, Will faced him.

"I should…get going," Will said, still unsure of exactly how Sonny was feeling at the moment about him.

"Okay." Sonny said. Sonny of course wanted Will to stay, at least partially. On the other hand, he meant what he had said last night. He didn't want to feel so dependent on Will, not like this at least. This was not normal. He depended on people, sure. That was life. Life was hard to get through without leaning on someone, but this was different; he could just feel it. He hadn't thought about it that intensely, but kissing Will ignited him. Sonny knew that he liked Will, that he had a crush on him. Thinking more about how his heart raced not just seeing him, but thinking about when he'd see him made him realize something. The pull he felt when Will was around, to be closer to him as much as possible, that made him realize something. He hadn't felt like this in a long time. He had a hard time deciding who the last person was…it definitely hadn't been Brian. There was no way in hell it had been. He stopped his train of thought as soon as the name popped into his head. That's not what he wanted to think about right now. After all these thoughts, he now knew one main thing; and he knew it for certain…

He was in love with Will.

He knew that he felt like he had been falling in love with him before, when they were at the cabin, but now he _knew. _He was _in love with Will Horton_. This was a different kind of love that he can't remember feeling so strongly before. Not ever. He's glad that he hasn't. This isWill he's talking about. Will deserves to be loved in a new way; in a way that nobody has loved him before. Sonny wanted to be that person. He just wanted to love Will the way that Will loved him: because he did. He loved Will and Will loved him. He can't believe that he didn't say anything back that night Will told him, but they had kissed, so Will could have figured out how he felt, right? Sonny's mind was racing, and he only just realized, that to his disappointment, Will had let himself out of the apartment as those thoughts had been swirling through his mind.

Sonny's heart tore slightly at the thought, but he couldn't say he was surprised. He wouldn't be surprised if Will never looked back. He had said some things last night that Will had taken in an awful direction, but Sonny didn't really do much to convince him otherwise. Sonny felt like he wasn't worth Will's love, that he didn't deserve it. Will deserved better than to take care of him like some child, a child that he had been acting like for far too long with Will. Sonny nearly fell to the floor at the thought of Will not loving him anymore. Had he really screwed things up that badly? Sonny always screwed things up. He did actually fall to the floor in a heap at that thought. He dug his nails into the skin of his thighs, covered by the sweatpants that he wore, but hurting just the same as if he weren't wearing them at all. Sonny wondered if Will heard the last words he spoke before he had fallen asleep. Will had been completely turned away from him, so there was no way to tell if he had been awake or not. Sonny hoped, even if he had been on the brink of sleep, that he heard what he'd said. Those words were much more important than any of the others.

It had been true. Sonny did want things to go back to the way they were before Brian, but he didn't mean every aspect of his life. He wanted things to go back, but he wanted to be able to bring Will with him. He and Will would be able to be happy…together. The only question now was: did Will want the same thing?

To be continued…


	23. Chapter 23

****_This is not perfect, and I'm not sure how I feel about it, but here's something to tide you all over for another week! Thanks for sticking with me! xx Sorry in advance . . . Try to ENJOY. _

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**Chapter 23**

A few days passed and no words were shared between them. Sonny didn't want to tell Will he loved him, and Will was afraid that Sonny didn't want anything to do with him. A few days of no contact, and the boys felt their suspicions about the other were proven correctly. In reality, it was clearly the opposite.

Sonny was home a few days later after a long shift at work. He was just done with his shower, starting to get dressed when he heard it. It was a knock at his door. He had only put his boxers on, and he normally didn't answer the door this way. Today he was making an exception. His heart raced, thinking, and hoping that it was Will at the door.

He padded to the door, hand shaking as he reached for the knob. To say that the hope that it was Will was dashed when he opened the door would be an understatement: a huge one.

In truth, he could barely breathe, and he wished all the air would just be taken from his body. He wished in this moment that he could die. He wasn't really expecting to get what he wanted so soon. At least, that's what it felt like.

"Hi Sonny. Did you miss me?" Sonny was grabbed by the neck before he had time to even blink, or process the words spoken to him. He was thankful that it was only a short time before everything faded to blackness.

* * *

He couldn't say how long he had been out, but when he finally came to, he was bound to one of his kitchen chairs. One tug on his wrists and he knew what he was being held back by; one of the worst things: zip ties. He hissed when they cut into his delicate wrists, which in turn made him realize just what sort of position he was in: a fucking bad one.

"You're awake. I was wondering how long it was gonna take. Aren't you going to tell me how much you missed me?" Footsteps were heard before Sonny saw him again. It was his worst nightmare: Brian. He came to stand in front of where Sonny was seated. His face came closer, Sonny moving his head back simultaneously, but to no avail. There was no place to go. This was what he had wanted to hide from, to run from. But it wasn't something he could run from. Not now, not ever. He just had to face it. There was obviously no choice, being tied to a chair and all kind of made that inevitable.

"Can't hide from me now, can you?" Brian said, almost like he could read Sonny's mind. His face was still close and Sonny could feel his heated breath spreading over his face. Sonny's eyes closed, wanting to just get away, but knowing this was just his fate that he had to endure. He flinched away from the touch that landed on his thigh. Starting from above the knee and slowly moving upward, Sonny continued to cringe, feeling bile rising up his throat. He swallowed it back down, knowing things wouldn't be good for him if he let himself go. He knew that no matter how Brian touched him, the arousal he's felt mildly around Will wouldn't come. He knew that Brian wouldn't be happy about that.

"Relax baby, just relax. I'll take care of you. Just like before…" Sonny's eyes snapped open as he felt Brian cup him through his skimpy boxers. He was surprised he hadn't taken them off while he was unconscious. He thanked God that he hadn't. But that would only prolong the inevitable, and he just wanted to die. Knowing what was about to happen, he wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole. The thing that broke him out of his thoughts was the burning sensation that suddenly flooded through his cheek. Instinctively, his arm jerked, trying to lift a hand to his face, to soothe the burning pain that he definitely hadn't been missing. The bindings on his wrists just cut deeper into his wrists. It momentarily took his mind off of the pain from Brian's hand across his face, so he pulled a little harder. He knew that his wrists were probably bleeding, but he couldn't stop. It was the only thing keeping him grounded. As Brian deemed fit, slaps to his cheeks came more frequently, then to his thighs. He tried to bite his lip, but he felt Brian tugging it free from his teeth and he wished he could bite a finger off. But he just couldn't do that. He could only pray; sit and take whatever Brian threw at him. He didn't know why he had thought it would've been Will outside his door tonight. The last time they spoke, things were a little unsure, and he knew Will was more distant. It had been his own fault though. As the burning spread, the air chilled and words of hatred became more frequent, Sonny couldn't help hoping that someone would save him. He wished that anyone could come to save the mess that couldn't protect himself. He knew that he had been dependent on Will and he hadn't wanted that to continue, but he always felt safe with him. That's what love it partially, isn't it? Feeling warm and loved and safe with your partner. That's what he needed right now. More importantly, he wanted it. He wanted Will to be the hero that came to save him in the middle of the night. He knew he wouldn't come, but holding out for that small ray of light throughout the world of darkness was the only thing keeping him alive. He just wasn't sure how long that would last.

* * *

Will had been trying to do other things these past few days, but his thoughts kept drifting to Sonny. He had left somewhat abruptly that morning and he felt bad ever since. He really should've told Sonny that he loved him; again. He had really only said it that one time. Maybe Sonny didn't think Will truly loved him. Maybe he was just still stuck up on his past. Will couldn't blame him for that. Could only just be there for him for as long as it takes for the past to be a little more healed. He could do that. He wanted to do that. His phone started buzzing and he picked it up without checking to see who it was.

"Hello?" Will said hopefully, mind and heart burning to hear Sonny's voice on the other end again.

"William. Good to hear your voice."

"Oh, hey EJ. What's up?"

"I'm just going to say this, I don't want to bullshit with you. But I need you to not freak out, alright?"

"Too bad. I already am…what's going on?"

"It looks like the young man we believed to be gone from Salem is not exactly gone."

Will's heart nearly stopped and his phone clattered to the floor.

"William. William!" EJ's voice rang out in the distance.

Will unfroze at the yelling and bent down to pick up the phone once again, pressing it to his ear swiftly.

"Excuse me? You said…EJ, I thought you were pretty damn sure!"

"Turns out he had some friend that was helping him. They made it look like he skipped town, but we were able to figure some things out, making us realize he was still here. Now, Sonny's with you I assume?"

"Sonny…" Will whispered, frightened to the very core. "No…EJ, he has him. I can feel it. I…he's going to hurt him again, who knows how bad this time. He's been waiting for the perfect moment. I can't believe we were so stupid! Sonny thought he saw him, but he actually did. He's been watching us and just waiting for his chance. That motherfucker!" Will cursed.

Will ran around his dorm getting dressed in a haste, grabbing keys before running from the dorms, barely shutting his door before he was on his way to Sonny's. EJ told him to not do anything rash or stupid. EJ was going to phone the police and they would search for Brian. Will should let them do their jobs. Will couldn't just wait though. Brian had Sonny. Will was almost 100% positive about that. He wasn't exactly sure how much time he'd have before Brian went too far.

He needed to find him and fast.

To be continued...

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_I feel bad for leaving it at this, but I typed things out as fast as I could to update 'Sunday' and it is now early early Monday morning, haha. Anyway, I thought this was a good stopping point for now. 'til next time...xoxo_


	24. Chapter 24

_First, I want to say thanks to everyone that read the last chapter I posted, and thank you to those that reviewed! I didn't get a chance to respond to any this past week...partly because I don't get emails about them anymore...Anyone know why that is? Anyway, Sorry for leaving the last cliff hanger, but here is the next chapter...On Saturday night nonetheless ;) Sorry for any mistakes. Please, Enjoy. xx _

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**Chapter 24**

Sonny must've gotten knocked out because he woke up with a grunt. His head was pounding, he could barely open his eyes, and then he felt a burning on his legs that he couldn't describe. He tried blinking to open his eyes more, but when he couldn't, he knew he had at least one black eye that was swollen pretty badly.

"Wake up, bitch. Took you long enough," Brian sneered from his place between his legs. Sonny was now nude and through his nearly closed eyes, he saw a candle hovering over his legs. This was not something he had experienced before. He wished he didn't have to. The wax from the candle melted from the red candle, falling onto his bare skin. It hurt immediately and then ceased once it dried. He felt, more than saw, the flame skirt over his knee. He knew he'd have burn marks to add to the emotional scars he had.

"Stop whining. It's pathetic" Brian said. Sonny hadn't even noticed the noises he had been making. "I said stop!" Brian slapped his already reddened cheek and he cowered away from the touch to the best of his ability. "You're just as weak as the last time I saw you. Just pining over hat Will guy."

"No." Sonny said, trying to sound strong, but it came out weaker than he'd hoped it would.

"Aw…look at that. Little Sonny is trying to stay strong. Was it the talking about Will that…?"

"Stop! Don't talk about him."

"Mm. You still like him. Still wanna fuck him, too?" Sonny gritted his teeth, both at Brian's crass words and at the extra waves of wax flowing freely onto his body.

"I'd still like to get my hands on him. See what all the fuss is about. See if that ass of his is…"

"No, Brian. Stop talking about Will like that. Just stop. You can't have him." Sonny said both passionately and aggressively.

"I've struck a nerve. Again." Brian laughed. Brian blew the candle out and set it on the table before sliding his hands up Sonny's naked thighs. His eyes closed, not wanting to see what Brian was doing.

"I told you, Sonny. I get what I want. I want you. So I'll have you. Then I want Will. So, then I'll _take _Will. There's nothing you can say, nothing you can do about it that would change my mind." Just then, there was a loud phone ringing throughout the apartment. They let it go, but it just started again. And again and again. Brian went to see who it was without the intention of actually answering it. It was Will.

"The poor boy. Obviously he's just missing his little whore. Too bad he won't get you again."

"We're at my apartment you douche bag. He'll be on his way over her right now."

"Snarky. I don't like that, Sonny. I think you deserve to be punished for that comment, huh?"

"You'll get caught you know it, I know it. Why don't you just leave? Leave town and don't come back. I'll forget all of this, okay? Just leave. Please."

"Tempting. Thought, not really. I think I'll stick around a bit longer. We'll all have a bit of fun." Brian twisted his nipple roughly. He hissed out in pain.

It was a few minutes later when there was a sudden pounding on the door. Sonny froze. He was happy someone else was close by, but not if that meant that someone had the potential of getting hurt. Not because of him.

"Run! Whoever's at the door, just leave!" Sonny yelled. He knew that was a stupid move, but he didn't want anyone else to get hurt. He could take it. Sonny received a punch to the gut at his warning.

"Sonny! Sonny, I know you're there. And Brian, open the goddamn door. Whatever you're doing, just stop." Will's voice rang out through the door. Sonny's heart raced at the voice, his heart jumping into throat knowing that Will was just outside of his door. He came over to find him.

Brian smirked at Sonny before walking over to the door to let Will in.

"Well well well. If it isn't Will Horton. How nice of you to come to our little soiree. Welcome." Brian said cockily. He didn't expect the punch that landed against the side of his face after Will entered the apartment, turning around quickly to lay it on him.

Brian grabbed at Will's hands, stopping any further injuries.

"Don't touch me." Brian snarled.

"I'll do whatever the fuck I want. You don't own me. Even if you think you own Sonny, which you don't. You might think that you "own" whomever the fuck you want, but you don't. You don't own anyone." Will said, breaking from Brian's grasp before walking over to where Sonny was tied up.

"Nuh-uh." Brian tsked him before he could touch the tied up man. Instead, Will knelt next to him.

"You okay?" Sonny looked at him without any expression. "As good as could be in the current situation at least? Or surviving?" Will whispered for only Sonny to hear. Sonny's eyes filled with tears, his barely open eyes turning to look down at him. Will felt his emotions starting to get the best of him. He put his head down for a second, breathing deeply and then giving in and looking back at Sonny again.

"Stand up, Horton." Will followed Brian's order but he knew deep down that he wouldn't for long.

""The police are on their way you know."

"Figured. I can still get what I want before that. You." Will felt sick. But Brian couldn't have him without him putting up a fight, right?

"I'm going to fuck you while the whore watches. Just like I said I would."

"What makes you think I'll give into that?" Will said.

"Because I'll hurt him more than he already is. I'll make it painful and I'll go until he can barely breathe. His heart will barely be beating." Will was breathing hard, but he knew what he had to do.

"Okay." Will replied.

"No! Will, no. Let him do it _me._ Let him kill me, just no. Not to you. Don't let him do this." Sonny begged.

"The man said okay, Sonny. Now shut up and watch like a good bitch or I'll kill this one."

"The cops are coming, how do you expect to get what you want in so little time."

"Hmm…I have a little help. Now undress Will, and get over here."

Will looked at Sonny, knowing this was what he had to do. He started taking off his clothes, one-by-one falling to the floor in a heap. When he was naked, he ignored the wolf-whistle from Brian, only trying to think about Sonny. He walked closer to where Brian was, still trying to think about only Sonny being in the room.

"Will, Will, Will. I never know this was what you were hiding from the world. It's gonna be even better than I thought it would be." Brian smacked a hand against Will's ass, making him cry out. He wasn't one for pain, none of any kind. Brian bent him over the side of Sonny's couch; the chair Sonny was sitting in was angled perfectly in their direction. Sonny saw it clearly in Will's face when Brian smacked his ass again. The pain resonated clearly on Will's face, and it made Sonny ache inside for him. Brian unzipped his pants and pulled his dick out. Sonny's eyes widened as much as they could and Will try to smile at him. It fell straight from his face as he felt Brian's dick slap against his bare cheeks. Brian went to push in dry, with no prep or condom.

"Wait! Brian you can't just…fuck, he's never…" Sonny snapped. He wasn't even the one in that situation right now and he felt just as sick, just as nervous as if he had been.

"I knew it. I was so right about this hot ass being virginal. It's gonna be a tight fit then. Mmm, I love it." Brian's blunt head pushed against Will's entrance.

"Seriously, Brian. Stop!" Sonny screamed. He couldn't help the words he was spewing. He was freaking out. He didn't want Will to be going through this right now. Not ever. He was scared for him, but he was tied up. There was absolutely _nothing_ he could do to save him from the pain he was about to endure. He wished so badly he could take Will's place right now. He would take his place in a heartbeat if he could. Brian didn't want that though. He wanted to make him suffer. Brian knows how much Sonny likes Will; how much he wants Will in all ways in life.

"Just…just do it." Will whispered.

"Will, no. You don't know what you're saying." Sonny tried reasoning with him.

When Brian's hips jerked forward, blunt head breaching Will for the first time, a scream tore from his throat, making Sonny feel sick. He felt dizzy at knowing that Will was in pain and he wish he could kill Brian so he couldn't hurt either of them anymore. As Will's screaming turned to cries of pain as Brian continued to move inside him further, a knock sounded at the door.

"Help! Help us!" Sonny yelled. The door burst open as he was praying that they would be safe.

Sonny tore at his bindings, pulling and trying to get free. He wanted to get to Will. He felt sick, he was dizzy, and he hoped that Will wasn't doing worse than he was. He feared that he was. He was the one who had just started getting raped by the crazy bastard of a man that wouldn't leave him…them, alone. An officer came over to help with getting him free, another grabbing Brian in the process. Brian was spewing words of hate, yet he knew that he was going to get caught. Will was being helped by a paramedic, helping stop the bleeding that had started only a few minutes ago. Once Sonny was free he scrambled as well as he could to Will. He pushed the paramedic away, wanting to help Will himself. He needed to help Will and he wanted Will to be okay. He couldn't focus on anything but Will. He just focused on Will's blue eyes that turned to look at him. Without stopping himself, Sonny said exactly how he had been feeling over the past few days. He ignored the words Brian was spewing about getting out of jail and finding them again and making it 10 times worse than tonight had been. Sonny speaks the words he should've spoken long ago, should've been honest with himself and Will before.

"Please be okay after this, Will. _I love you._"

To be continued…


End file.
